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{{Short description|Country in Eastern Europe}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Pp-sock|small=yes}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{EngvarB|date = May 2022}}

{{Infobox country
| conventional_long_name = Ukraine
| common_name = Ukraine
| native_name = {{native name|uk|Україна|italics=off}}
| image_flag = Flag of Ukraine.svg
| image_coat = Coat of Arms of Ukraine.svg
| national_anthem = {{lang|uk|Державний Гімн України}}<br />{{transliteration|uk|Derzhavnyi Himn Ukrainy}}<br />"]"{{parabr}}{{center|]}}
| image_map = {{Switcher|]
|Show globe|]|Show map of Europe|]|Topographic map of Ukraine, with<br />borders, cities and towns|default=1}}
| map_caption = Territory controlled by Ukraine (dark green)<br>] (light green)
| image_map2 =
| alt_map2 = <!--alt text for second map-->
| map_caption2 = <!--Caption to place below second map-->
| image_map2_size = <!--Map size in number of pixels-->
| capital = ]<!--See ] re Kiev/Kyiv. -->
| coordinates = {{coord|49|N|32|E|scale:10000000_source:GNS|display=inline,title}}
| largest_city = capital
| languages_type = {{Unbulleted list|Official language|{{Nobold|and national language}}}}
| languages = ]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ukrainian-studies.ca/2020/10/20/the-official-act-on-the-state-language-entered-into-force-on-16-july-2019-the-status-of-ukrainian-and-minority-languages/|title=Law of Ukraine "On ensuring the functioning of Ukrainian as the state language": The status of Ukrainian and minority languages|date=20 October 2020}}</ref>
| ethnic_groups = {{unbulleted list
| 78% ]
| 17% ]
| 4.9% ]
}}
| ethnic_groups_year = 2001
| ethnic_groups_ref = <ref name="Ethnic composition of the population of Ukraine, 2001 Census"/>
| demonym = ]
| government_type = Unitary ]
| leader_title1 = ]
| leader_name1 = ]
| leader_title2 = ]
| leader_name2 = ]
| leader_title3 = ]
| leader_name3 = ]
| legislature = ]
| sovereignty_type = ]
| established_event1 = ]
| established_date1 = 882
| established_event2 = ]
| established_date2 = 1199
| established_event3 = ]
| established_date3 = 18 August 1649
| established_event4 = ]
| established_date4 = {{nowrap|20 November 1917}}
| established_event5 = ]
| established_date5 = 10 March 1919
| established_event6 = {{nowrap|]}}
| established_date6 = 24 October 1945
| established_event7 = {{nowrap|]}}
| established_date7 = 24 August 1991
| established_event8 = ]
| established_date8 = 28 June 1996
| area_km2 = 603,628<ref>{{cite web |title=Ukraine |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ukraine/#geography |website=The World Factbook |publisher=Central Intelligence Agency |language=en |date=23 March 2022}}</ref>
| area_rank = 45th <!-- Area rank should match ] -->
| area_sq_mi = or 233,013/ 223,013<!--Do not remove per ]-->
| percent_water = 3.8<ref name="Jhariya Meena Banerjee 2021 p. 40">{{cite book | last1=Jhariya | first1=M.K. | last2=Meena | first2=R.S. | last3=Banerjee | first3=A. | title=Ecological Intensification of Natural Resources for Sustainable Agriculture | publisher=Springer Singapore | year=2021 | isbn=978-981-334-203-3 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Bf4hEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA40 | access-date=31 March 2022 | page=40}}</ref>
| population_estimate = {{increase}} 33,365,000<ref name="IMFWEO.UA" />
| population_estimate_year = 2024
| population_estimate_rank = 36th
| population_density_km2 = 60.9
| population_density_sq_mi = 191 <!--Do not remove per ]-->
| population_density_rank = 126th
| GDP_PPP = {{increase}} $515.947 billion<ref name="IMFWEO.UA">{{Cite web |url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2024/April/weo-report?c=926,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,LP,&sy=2022&ey=2029&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1 |title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2024 Edition. (Ukraine) |publisher=] |website=www.imf.org |date=16 April 2024 |access-date=17 April 2024}}</ref>
| GDP_PPP_year = 2024
| GDP_PPP_rank = 49th
| GDP_PPP_per_capita = {{increase}} $15,464<ref name="IMFWEO.UA" />
| GDP_PPP_per_capita_rank = 102nd
| GDP_nominal = {{increase}} $188.943 billion<ref name="IMFWEO.UA" />
| GDP_nominal_year = 2024
| GDP_nominal_rank = 58th
| GDP_nominal_per_capita = {{increase}} $5,663<ref name="IMFWEO.UA" />
| GDP_nominal_per_capita_rank = 111st
| Gini = 25.6 <!--number only-->
| Gini_year = 2020
| Gini_change = decrease <!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| Gini_ref = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.GINI |title=GINI index (World Bank estimate) – Ukraine |publisher=] |website=data.worldbank.org |access-date=12 August 2021}}</ref>
| Gini_rank =
| HDI = 0.734 <!--number only-->
| HDI_year = 2022 <!-- Please use the year to which the data refers, not the publication year-->
| HDI_change = decrease<!--increase/decrease/steady-->
| HDI_ref = <ref name="UNHDR">{{cite web|url=https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/global-report-document/hdr2023-24reporten.pdf|title=Human Development Report 2023/24|language=en|publisher=]|date=13 March 2024|access-date=13 March 2024}}</ref>
| HDI_rank = 100th
| currency = ] (₴)
| currency_code = UAH
| time_zone = ]
| utc_offset = +2<ref name="timechange">{{cite news |url=http://ua.korrespondent.net/ukraine/events/1273613-rishennya-radi-ukrayina-30-zhovtnya-perejde-na-zimovij-chas|script-title=uk:Рішення Ради: Україна 30 жовтня перейде на зимовий час|trans-title=Rada Decision: Ukraine will change to winter time on 30 October |language=uk |publisher=korrespondent.net |date=18 October 2011 |access-date=31 October 2011|last1=Net |first1=Korrespondent }}</ref>
| utc_offset_DST = +3
| time_zone_DST = ]
| date_format = dd.mm.yyyy
| drives_on = right
| calling_code = ]
| cctld = {{unbulleted list |] |]}}
| religion = {{ublist |item_style=white-space:nowrap; |87.3% ]|11.0% ]|0.8% ]|0.9% unanswered}}
| religion_year = 2018
| religion_ref = <ref>{{citation|url=http://razumkov.org.ua/uploads/article/2018_Religiya.pdf|script-title=uk:Особливості Релігійного І Церковно-Релігійного Самовизначення Українських Громадян: Тенденції 2010–2018|trans-title=Features of Religious and Church – Religious Self-Determination of Ukrainian Citizens: Trends 2010–2018|date=22 April 2018|publisher=] in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches|pages=12, 13, 16, 31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180426194313/http://razumkov.org.ua/uploads/article/2018_Religiya.pdf|archive-date=26 April 2018 <!-- Archive date guessed from URL -->|url-status = live|language=uk|place=Kyiv}}<br />Sample of 2,018 respondents aged 18 years and over, interviewed 23–28 March 2018 in all regions of Ukraine except Crimea and the occupied territories of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.</ref>
}}

'''Ukraine'''{{efn|{{IPAc-en|audio=en-us-Ukraine.ogg|juː|ˈ|k|r|eɪ|n}} {{respell|yoo|KRAYN}}; {{lang-uk|Україна|Ukraina}}, {{IPA|uk|ʊkrɐˈjinɐ|pron|Uk-Україна (2).oga}}}} is a country in ]. It is the ]{{Efn|Considering only territories located within geographic Europe.}} after ], which ] it to the east and northeast.{{Efn|Ukraine also has a ] to its southeast with ].}}<ref>{{Cite news |date=1 March 2022 |title=Ukraine country profile |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-18018002 |access-date=25 March 2022}}</ref> It also borders ] to the north; ] and ] to the west; ], ] and ]{{Efn|Which also has the unrecognised breakaway state ].}} to the southwest; with a coastline along the ] and the ] to the south and southeast.{{Efn|The Ukrainian territories on the Sea of Azov have been occupied and annexed by Russia in 2022, but the annexation has been condemned by the international community.}} ] is the nation's capital and ], followed by ], ], and ]. Ukraine's ] is ].

During the ], Ukraine was the site of ] expansion and the area later became a key centre of ] culture under the state of ], which emerged in the 9th century. The state eventually disintegrated into rival regional powers and was ultimately destroyed by the ] of the 13th century. The area was then contested, divided, and ruled by a variety of external powers for the next 600 years, including the ], the ], the ], and the ]. The ] emerged in ] in the 17th century, but was partitioned between Russia and Poland, and ultimately absorbed by the ]. ] developed and, following the ] in 1917, the short-lived ] was formed. The ] consolidated control over much of the former empire and established the ], which became a ] of the ] when it was formed in 1922. In the early 1930s, millions of Ukrainians died in the ], a ]. The ] during ] was devastating, with 7 million Ukrainian civilians killed, including ].

Ukraine gained independence in 1991 as the ], and declared itself ].<ref name="gska2.rada.gov.ua">{{cite web |url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Declaration_of_State_Sovereignty_of_Ukraine_rev1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927224650/http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Declaration_of_State_Sovereignty_of_Ukraine_rev1.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |title=Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine |access-date=24 December 2007 |website=] of Ukraine}}</ref> A new ] was adopted in 1996. A series of mass demonstrations, known as the ], led to the establishment of a new government in 2014 after ]. Russia then unilaterally ] Ukraine's ], and ] culminated in ] between Russian-backed separatists and government forces in eastern Ukraine. Russia launched ] of Ukraine in 2022. Since the outbreak of ], Ukraine has continued to seek closer ], ], and ].<ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last1=Beliakova |first1=Polina |last2=Tecott Metz |first2=Rachel |date=2023-03-17 |title=The Surprising Success of U.S. Military Aid to Ukraine |language=en-US |work=Foreign Affairs |url=https://www.foreignaffairs.com/ukraine/war-security-assistance-lessons |access-date=2023-04-13}}</ref><ref name=":6">{{Cite web |last=Dorfman |first=Zach |date=April 28, 2022 |title=In closer ties to Ukraine, U.S. officials long saw promise and peril |url=https://news.yahoo.com/in-closer-ties-to-ukraine-us-officials-long-saw-promise-and-peril-090006105.html |access-date=April 13, 2023 |website=] |language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="European Commission Trade Ukraine"/>

Ukraine is a ] and its ] is a ]. A ], it is the ] by nominal GDP per capita<ref>{{Cite web|date=26 April 2019|title=What is wrong with the Ukrainian economy?|url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/what-is-wrong-with-the-ukrainian-economy/|access-date=23 August 2020|website=Atlantic Council|language=en-US}}</ref> and ] remains a significant issue.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/01/briefing/russia-ukraine-war-corruption-yovanovitch-odessa.html|title=Corruption in Ukraine|last=Dlugy|first=Yana|work=]|date=1 July 2022|access-date=15 September 2022}}</ref> However, due to ], pre-war Ukraine was ].<ref name="grain1">{{cite press release |url=http://www.blackseagrain.net/data/news/ukraine-becomes-worlds-third-biggest-grain-exporter-in-2011-minister |title=Ukraine becomes world's third biggest grain exporter in 2011 – minister |publisher=Black Sea Grain |date=20 January 2012 |access-date=31 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231235707/http://www.blackseagrain.net/data/news/ukraine-becomes-worlds-third-biggest-grain-exporter-in-2011-minister |archive-date=31 December 2013}}</ref><ref name="grain2">{{cite web |url=https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/publications_e/wtr13_e.htm |title=World Trade Report 2013 |publisher=World Trade Organization |date=2013 |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> Ukraine is a ] and the Ukrainian Armed Force is the ] with the ] in the world. The ] also operates one of the largest and most diverse drone fleets in the world.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.warpowerukraine.com/droneforce.php|title=Ukrainian Drone Force|website=www.warpowerukraine.com}}</ref> It is a founding member of the ], as well as a member of the ], the ], and the ]. It is in the process of ] and has applied to join NATO.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Kramer |first1=Andrew E. |last2=Bilefsky |first2=Dan |date=2022-09-30 |title=Ukraine submits an application to join NATO, with big hurdles ahead. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/30/world/europe/ukraine-nato-zelensky.html |access-date=2022-10-01 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>
{{TOC limit}}

== Etymology and orthography ==
{{Main|Name of Ukraine}}
The ] is frequently interpreted as coming from the ] term for 'borderland' as is the word '']''.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2014/02/linguistic-divides |title=Linguistic divides: Johnson: Is there a single Ukraine? |newspaper=The Economist |date=5 February 2014 |access-date=12 May 2014 |url-access=subscription}}</ref>
Another interpretation is that the name of Ukraine means "region" or "country."

{{Anchor|the Ukraine}}In the ] during most of the 20th century, Ukraine (whether independent or not) was referred to as "the Ukraine".<ref name="merriam-webster">{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ukraine |title=Ukraine – Definition |publisher=Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary |access-date=4 May 2012}}</ref> This is because the word ''ukraina'' means 'borderland'<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/32098/why-did-ukraine-become-just-ukraine|title=Why Did "The Ukraine" Become Just "Ukraine"?|date=3 January 2013|website=www.mentalfloss.com}}</ref> so the ] would be natural in the English language; this is similar to ''{{lang|nl|Nederlanden}}'', which means 'low lands' and is rendered in English as "''the'' ]".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-18233844|title=Ukraine or the Ukraine: Why do some country names have 'the'?|work=BBC News|date=7 June 2012}}</ref> However, since Ukraine's ] in 1991, this usage has become politicised and is now rarer, and ]s advise against its use.<ref name="UKrW812991TU">{{cite web |url=http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1991/499102.shtml |title=The "the" is gone |publisher=] |volume=LIX, No. 49 |date=8 December 1991 |access-date=21 October 2015 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014083357/http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1991/499102.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Adam Taylor |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/why-ukraine-isnt-the-ukraine-and-why-that-matters-now-2013-12 |title=Why Ukraine Isn't 'The Ukraine,' And Why That Matters Now |website=] |date=9 December 2013 |access-date=21 October 2015}}</ref> US ambassador ] said that using "the Ukraine" implies disregard for Ukrainian sovereignty.<ref>{{cite news |title='Ukraine' or 'the Ukraine'? It's more controversial than you think. |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2014/03/25/ukraine-or-the-ukraine-its-more-controversial-than-you-think/ |access-date=11 August 2016 |newspaper=] |date=25 March 2014}}</ref> The official Ukrainian position is that "the Ukraine" is both grammatically and politically incorrect.<ref name="BBC News Magazine">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-18233844 |publisher=] |title=Ukraine or the Ukraine: Why do some country names have 'the'? |last1=Geoghegan |first1=Tom |work=] Magazine |date=7 June 2012}}</ref><ref name="mcip.gov.ua">{{Cite web |date=2024-07-24 |title=Національний перелік елементів нематеріальної культурної спадщини України |url=https://mcip.gov.ua/kulturna-spadshchyna/natsionalnyy-perelik-elementiv-nematerialnoi-kulturnoi-spadshchyny-ukrainy/ |access-date=2024-07-28 |website=mcip.gov.ua |language=uk}}</ref>

== History ==
{{main|History of Ukraine}}

=== Early history ===
] from the ] of present-day Ukraine and Russia<ref>{{cite journal|url=https://www.science.org/content/article/nomadic-herders-left-strong-genetic-mark-europeans-and-asians|first=Ann|last=Gibbons|date=10 June 2015|title=Nomadic herders left a strong genetic mark on Europeans and Asians|journal=Science|publisher=AAAS}}
</ref>]]

1.4 million year old stone tools from ], western Ukraine, are the earliest securely dated hominin presence in Europe.<ref name=Garba2024>{{cite journal|author=R. Garba, V. Usyk, L. Ylä-Mella, J. Kameník, K. Stübner, J. Lachner, G. Rugel, F. Veselovský, N. Gerasimenko, A. I. R. Herries, J. Kučera, M. F. Knudsen, J. D. Jansen|date=March 6, 2024|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/378769849|title=East-to-west human dispersal into Europe 1.4 million years ago|journal=Nature|volume=627 |issue=8005 |pages=805–810 |language=en|doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07151-3|pmid=38448591 |bibcode=2024Natur.627..805G |s2cid=268262450 | issn = 0028-0836}}</ref> Settlement by ] in Ukraine and its vicinity dates back to 32,000 BC, with evidence of the ] in the ].<ref name=orig>{{cite journal |title=The Oldest Anatomically Modern Humans from Far Southeast Europe: Direct Dating, Culture and Behavior |first1=Sandrine |last1=Prat |first2=Stéphane C. |last2=Péan |first3=Laurent |last3=Crépin |first4=Dorothée G. |last4=Drucker |first5=Simon J. |last5=Puaud |first6=Hélène |last6=Valladas |first7=Martina |last7=Lázničková-Galetová |first8=Johannes van der |last8=Plicht |first9=Alexander |last9=Yanevich |journal=] |date=17 June 2011 |volume=6 |issue=6 |pages=e20834 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0020834 |pmid=21698105 |pmc=3117838 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...620834P |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=bbc>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-13846262 |title=Early human fossils unearthed in Ukraine |author=Jennifer Carpenter |date=20 June 2011 |publisher=BBC |access-date=21 June 2011}}</ref> By 4,500 BC, the ] ] was flourishing in wide areas of modern Ukraine, including ] and the entire ]-] region. Ukraine is considered to be the likely location of the first ].<ref>{{cite web|date=7 May 2012 |title=Mystery of the domestication of the horse solved: Competing theories reconciled |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120507154107.htm |access-date=12 June 2014 |publisher=sciencedaily (sourced from the ])}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|first=Mary Kilbourne |last=Matossian |date=8 May 1997 |isbn=9780765600622 |publisher=] |title=Shaping World History |page=43}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=What We Theorize – When and Where Did Domestication Occur |url=http://imh.org/index.php/legacy-of-the-horse-full-story/the-domestication-of-the-horse/what-we-theorize-when-and-where-did-domestication-occur |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130723111211/http://imh.org/index.php/legacy-of-the-horse-full-story/the-domestication-of-the-horse/what-we-theorize-when-and-where-did-domestication-occur |archive-date=23 July 2013 |access-date=12 December 2010 |website=International Museum of the Horse}}</ref><ref name="cbc.ca">{{cite news|date=7 March 2009 |title=Horsey-aeology, Binary Black Holes, Tracking Red Tides, Fish Re-evolution, Walk Like a Man, Fact or Fiction |work=Quirks and Quarks Podcast with Bob Macdonald |publisher=CBC Radio |url=http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2009/03/07/horsey-aeology-binary-black-holes-tracking-red-tides-fish-re-evolution-walk-like-a-man-fact-or-ficti/ |access-date=18 September 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007100308/http://www.cbc.ca/quirks/episode/2009/03/07/horsey-aeology-binary-black-holes-tracking-red-tides-fish-re-evolution-walk-like-a-man-fact-or-ficti/ |archive-date=7 October 2014}}</ref> The ] places the Volga-Dnieper region of Ukraine and southern Russia as the ] of the ].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Balter |first1=Michael |title=Mysterious Indo-European homeland may have been in the steppes of Ukraine and Russia |journal=] |date=13 February 2015 |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/mysterious-indo-european-homeland-may-have-been-steppes-ukraine-and-russia}}</ref> Early ] from the Pontic steppes in the 3rd millennium BC spread ] ] ancestry and ] across large parts of Europe.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Haak |first1=Wolfgang |last2=Lazaridis |first2=Iosif |last3=Patterson |first3=Nick |last4=Rohland |first4=Nadin |last5=Mallick |first5=Swapan |last6=Llamas |first6=Bastien |last7=Brandt |first7=Guido |last8=Nordenfelt |first8=Susanne |last9=Harney |first9=Eadaoin |last10=Stewardson |first10=Kristin |last11=Fu |first11=Qiaomei |date=2015-06-11 |title=Massive migration from the steppe was a source for Indo-European languages in Europe |journal=] |volume=522 |issue=7555 |pages=207–211 |doi=10.1038/nature14317 |issn=0028-0836 |pmc=5048219 |pmid=25731166 |bibcode=2015Natur.522..207H |arxiv=1502.02783}}</ref> During the ], the land was inhabited by ]-speaking ], ], and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Scythian |title=Scythian |access-date=21 October 2015 |website=]}}</ref> Between 700&nbsp;BC and 200&nbsp;BC it was part of the ]n kingdom.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=https://global.britannica.com/topic/Scythian |title=Scythian: Ancient People |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170327013119/https://global.britannica.com/topic/Scythian |encyclopedia=Online Britannica |date=20 July 1998 |access-date=26 October 2017 |archive-date=27 March 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

From the 6th&nbsp;century BC, ], ], and ] colonies were established on the north-eastern shore of the ], such as at ], ], and ]. These thrived into the 6th&nbsp;century AD. The ] stayed in the area, but came under the sway of the ] from the 370s. In the 7th&nbsp;century, the territory that is now eastern Ukraine was the centre of ]. At the end of the century, the majority of Bulgar tribes migrated in different directions, and the ] took over much of the land.<ref>{{cite web |title=Khazar &#124; Origin, History, Religion, & Facts |url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/Khazar |website=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=12 May 2023 }}</ref>

In the 5th and 6th centuries, the ], an ] people, lived in Ukraine. Migrations from the territories of present-day Ukraine throughout the ] established many ] nations. Northern migrations, reaching almost to ], led to the emergence of the ] and ]. Following an ] raid in 602 and the collapse of the Antes Union, most of these peoples survived as separate tribes until the beginning of the second millennium.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=t124cP06gg0C&q=antes+avar&pg=PA42 |title=A History of Ukraine |first=Paul Robert |last=Magocsi |date=16 July 1996 |publisher=] |access-date=16 July 2018 |via=Google Books |isbn=9780802078209}}</ref>{{Request quotation|date=March 2022}}

=== Golden Age of Kyiv ===
<!-- 800–1349 -->
{{Main|Kievan Rus'|Principality of Kiev|Kingdom of Galicia–Volhynia}}
], 1054–1132]]

The establishment of the state of ] remains obscure and uncertain.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Belyaev |first=A. |date=13 September 2012 |title=Русь и варяги. Евразийский исторический взгляд |url=https://www.gumilev-center.ru/rus-i-varyagi-evrazijjskijj-istoricheskijj-vzglyad/ |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=Центр Льва Гумилёва |language=ru-RU}}</ref> The state included much of present-day Ukraine, Belarus and the western part of ].<ref name="Columbia">{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=The Columbia Encyclopedia |edition=6 |date=2001–2007 |article=Kievan Rus |url=http://www.bartleby.com/65/ki/KievanRu.html |access-date=8 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000819153626/http://www.bartleby.com/65/ki/KievanRu.html |archive-date=19 August 2000}}</ref> According to the '']'', the ] initially consisted of ]s from ].<ref>''A Geography of Russia and Its Neighbors'' {{ISBN|978-1-606-23920-9}} p. 69</ref> In 882, the pagan ] (Oleh) conquered ]<!--See ] re Kiev/Kyiv. --> from ] and proclaimed it as the new capital of the Rus'.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kubicek |first=Paul |date=2008 |title=The History of Ukraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IpJxDwAAQBAJ&dq=kievan+rus+dir+882&pg=PA21 |location=Westport |publisher=Greenwood Press |pages=20–22 |isbn=9780313349201}}</ref> ] historians however argue that the East Slavic tribes along the southern parts of the ] were already in the process of forming a state independently.<ref name="martin">{{Cite book |last=Martin |first=Janet |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JyN0hlKcfTcC&pg=PA37 |title=A Companion to Russian History |date=6 April 2009 |publisher=] |isbn=978-1-4443-0842-6 |editor-last=Gleason |editor-first=Abbott |pages=37–40 |language=en}}</ref> The Varangian elite, including the ruling ], later assimilated into the Slavic population.<ref name="Columbia"/> Kievan Rus' was composed of several ] ruled by the interrelated Rurikid '']'' ("princes"), who often fought each other for possession of Kyiv.<ref>''The Dynasty of Chernigov, 1146–1246'' {{ISBN|978-0-521-82442-2}} pp. 117–118</ref>

During the 10th and 11th&nbsp;centuries, Kievan Rus' became the largest and most powerful state in Europe, a period known as its Golden Age.<ref name="cia">{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/ukraine/ |title=Ukraine |access-date=24 December 2007 |date=13 December 2007 |website=]}}</ref> It began with the reign of ] (980–1015), who ]. During the reign of his son, ] (1019–1054), Kievan Rus' reached the zenith of its cultural development and military power.<ref name="Columbia"/> The state soon fragmented as the relative importance of regional powers rose again. After a final resurgence under the rule of ] (1113–1125) and his son ] (1125–1132), Kievan Rus' finally disintegrated into separate principalities following Mstislav's death, though ownership of Kyiv would still carry great prestige for decades.<ref>''Power Politics in Kievan Rus': Vladimir Monomakh and His Dynasty, 1054–1246'' {{ISBN|0-888-44202-5}} pp. 195–196</ref> In the 11th and 12th centuries, the nomadic confederacy of the ]-speaking ] and ] was the dominant force in the ] north of the Black Sea.<ref>Carter V. Findley, ''The Turks in World History'' (Oxford University Press, October 2004) {{ISBN|0-19-517726-6}}</ref>

The ] in the mid-13th century devastated Kievan Rus'; following the ], the city was destroyed by the Mongols.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/4.PEAS/4.L/12.III.5.html |archive-url=https://wayback.archive-it.org/6473/20160819150506/https://tspace.library.utoronto.ca/citd/RussianHeritage/4.PEAS/4.L/12.III.5.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=19 August 2016 |title=The Destruction of Kiev |access-date=3 January 2008 |website=University of Toronto's Research Repository }}</ref> In the western territories, the principalities of ] and ] had arisen earlier, and were merged to form the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages%5CR%5CO%5CRomanMstyslavych.htm |title=Roman Mstyslavych |website=encyclopediaofukraine.com}}</ref> ], son of ], re-united much of south-western Rus', including ], ], as well as Kyiv. He was subsequently crowned by a ] envoy as the first ] (also known as the Kingdom of ]) in 1253.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ougrin |first1=Dennis |last2=Ougrin |first2=Anastasia |date=2020 |title=One Hundred Years in Galicia: Events That Shaped Ukraine and Eastern Europe |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sGgDEAAAQBAJ&dq=1253+daniel+ruthenia&pg=PR11 |location=Newcastle upon Tyne |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |page=11 |isbn=9781527558816}}</ref>

=== Foreign domination ===
<!-- 1349–1914 -->
{{further|Kiev Voivodeship}}
{{See also|Grand Duchy of Lithuania|Crown of the Kingdom of Poland|Crimean Khanate|Ottoman Empire|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Russian Empire}}
] at its maximum extent in 1619, superimposed on modern borders. ] and the ] exercised power over much of Ukraine after ].
<br />
{{legend inline|#f59497|]}}<br />
{{legend inline|#f693c8|]}}<br />
{{legend inline|#787878|]}}<br />
{{legend inline|#c8c8c8|], Polish ]}}<br />
{{legend inline|#9661c7|], Commonwealth fief}}
]]

In 1349, in the aftermath of the ], the region was partitioned between the ] and the ].<ref name="rowell266">{{cite book |title=Lithuania Ascending: A Pagan Empire Within East-Central Europe, 1295–1345 |first=C. S. |last=Rowell |year=1994 |publisher=] |series=Cambridge Studies in Medieval Life and Thought: Fourth Series |isbn=9780521450119}}</ref> From the mid-13th century to the late 1400s, the ] founded numerous ] on the northern coast of the Black Sea and transformed these into large commercial centers headed by the consul, a representative of the Republic.<ref>{{Cite web|date=5 February 2018 |script-title=ru:Генуэзские колонии в Одесской области – Бизнес-портал Измаила |title=Genuezskiye kolonii v Odesskoy oblasti – Biznes-portal Izmaila |trans-title=Genoese colonies in the Odesa region – Izmail's business portal |language=ru |url=http://izm-biz.info/genuezskie-kolonii-v-odesskoj-oblasti/ |access-date=17 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205001115/http://izm-biz.info/genuezskie-kolonii-v-odesskoj-oblasti/ |archive-date=5 February 2018}}</ref> In 1430, the region of ] was incorporated into Poland, and the lands of modern-day Ukraine became increasingly settled by ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Plokhy |first=Serhii |date=2017 |title=The Gates of Europe: A History of Ukraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pm-QDQAAQBAJ&dq=podolia+1430&pg=PT87 |location=New York |publisher=] |isbn=9780465050918}}</ref> In 1441, ] prince ] founded the ] on the ] and the surrounding steppes;<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://radiolemberg.com/ua-articles/ua-allarticles/a-history-of-ukraine-episode-33-the-crimean-khanate-and-its-permanent-invasions-of-ukraine |title=A History of Ukraine. Episode 33. The Crimean Khanate and Its Permanent Invasions of Ukraine |author=Radio Lemberg |website=radiolemberg.com |access-date=26 September 2019 |archive-date=12 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200512145419/http://radiolemberg.com/ua-articles/ua-allarticles/a-history-of-ukraine-episode-33-the-crimean-khanate-and-its-permanent-invasions-of-ukraine |url-status=dead }}</ref> the Khanate orchestrated ] ]. Over the next three centuries, the ] would enslave an estimated two million in the region.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kizilov |first=Mikhail |date=2007 |title=Slaves, Money Lenders, and Prisoner Guards: The Jews and the Trade in Slaves and Captives in the Crimean Khanate |url=https://www.academia.edu/3706285 |journal=Journal of Jewish Studies |volume=58 |issue=2 |pages=189–210 |doi=10.18647/2730/JJS-2007 |issn=0022-2097}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=İnalcik |first=Halil |title=The Mutual Effects of the Islamic and Judeo-Christian Worlds: The East European Pattern |publisher=Brooklyn College Press |year=1979 |isbn=978-0-93088800-8 |editor1-last=Ascher |editor1-first=Abraham |location=New York, NY |pages=25–43 |contribution=Servile Labour in the Ottoman Empire |author-link=Halil İnalcık |editor2-last=Király |editor2-first=Béla K. |editor3-last=Halasi-Kun |editor3-first=Tibor |contribution-url=http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170504102244/http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~fisher/hst373/readings/inalcik6.html |archive-date=4 May 2017 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 1569, the ] established the ], and most of the Ukrainian lands were transferred from Lithuania to the ], becoming '']'' Polish territory. Under the pressures of ], many landed gentry of ] converted to ] and joined the circles of the ]; others joined the newly created ].<ref>Subtelny, pp. 92–93</ref>

=== Cossack Hetmanate ===
{{main|Cossack Hetmanate|Zaporozhian Sich}}
Deprived of native protectors among the Ruthenian nobility, the peasants and townspeople began turning for protection to the emerging ]. In the mid-17th&nbsp;century, a Cossack military quasi-state, the ], was formed by ] and Ruthenian peasants.<ref name="zaporizhia">{{cite web |author=Krupnytsky B. and Zhukovsky A. |title=Zaporizhia, The |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pages\Z\A\ZaporizhiaThe.htm |access-date=16 December 2007 |website=]}}</ref> Poland exercised little real control over this population, but found the Cossacks to be useful against the ] and ],<ref name="britcos">{{cite web |title=Ukraine – The Cossacks |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/History#toc30066 |access-date=21 October 2015 |website=]}}</ref> and at times the two were allies in ].<ref>{{cite web |last=Matsuki |first=Eizo |year=2009 |title=The Crimean Tatars and their Russian-Captive Slaves |url=http://www2.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~areastd/mediterranean/mw/pdf/18/10.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130605131551/http://www.econ.hit-u.ac.jp/~areastd/mediterranean/mw/pdf/18/10.pdf |archive-date=5 June 2013 |website=econ.hit-u.ac.jp |publisher=] (Mediterranean Studies Group)}}</ref> However, the continued harsh ] of Ruthenian peasantry by Polish ] (many of whom were Polonized ]) and the suppression of the Orthodox Church alienated the Cossacks.<ref name="britcos"/> The latter did not shy from taking up arms against those they perceived as enemies and occupiers, including the Catholic Church with its local representatives.<ref>{{cite web |title=Poland |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-28237 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011213405/http://britannica.com/eb/article-28237 |archive-date=11 October 2007 |access-date=12 September 2007 |website=] (fee required)}}</ref>

] ] established an independent ] after the ] against Poland.]]
In 1648, ] led the ] against the Commonwealth and the ], which enjoyed wide support from the local population.<ref>Subtelny, pp. 123–124</ref> Khmelnytsky founded the ], which existed until 1764 (some sources claim until 1782).<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |first1=Lev |last1=Okinshevych |author2=Arkadii Zhukovsky |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CH%5CE%5CHetmanstate.htm |title=Hetman state |encyclopedia=] |date=1989 |volume=2}}</ref> After Khmelnytsky suffered a crushing defeat at the ] in 1651, he turned to the ] for help. In 1654, Khmelnytsky was subject to the ], forming a military and political alliance with Russia that acknowledged loyalty to the Russian monarch.

After his death, the Hetmanate went through a devastating 30-year war amongst Russia, Poland, the ], the ], and ], known as "]" (1657–1686), for control of the Cossack Hetmanate. The ] between Russia and Poland in 1686 divided the lands of the Cossack Hetmanate between them, reducing the portion over which Poland had claimed sovereignty to Ukraine west of the ] river. In 1686, the ] was ] through a synodal letter of the ] ], thus placing the ] under the authority of ]. An attempt to reverse the decline was undertaken by Cossack Hetman ] (1639–1709), who ultimately defected to the ] in the ] (1700–1721) in a bid to get rid of Russian dependence,<ref name="Magocsi">{{cite book |last=Magocsi |first=Paul Robert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z0mKRsElYNkC&dq=mazepa+poltava&pg=PA262 |title=A History of Ukraine: The Land and Its Peoples, Second Edition |date=2010 |publisher=] |isbn=9781442640856 |location=Toronto |pages=255–263}}</ref> but they were crushed in the ] (1709).<ref name="Magocsi"/>

The Hetmanate's autonomy was severely restricted since Poltava. In the years 1764–1781, ] incorporated much of ] into the ], abolishing the ] and the ], and was one of the people responsible for the suppression of the last major Cossack uprising, the ].<ref>{{cite book |last=Hardaway |first=Ashley |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gOSwvfCKYVkC&dq=massacre+uman+1768&pg=PA98 |title=Ukraine |date=2011 |publisher=Other Places Publishing |isbn=9781935850045 |location=US |page=98}}</ref> After the ] in 1783, the newly acquired lands, now called ], were opened up to settlement by Russians.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Makuch |first1=Andrij |last2=Zasenko |first2=Oleksa Eliseyovich |last3=Yerofeyev |first3=Ivan Alekseyevich |last4=Hajda |first4=Lubomyr A. |last5=Stebelsky |first5=Ihor |last6=Kryzhanivsky |first6=Stepan Andriyovich |date=13 December 2023 |title=Ukraine under direct imperial Russian rule |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/Ukraine-under-direct-imperial-Russian-rule |archive-url= |archive-date= |access-date=11 December 2023 |website=] Online}}</ref> The ] established a policy of ], suppressing the use of the ] and curtailing the Ukrainian national identity.<ref name="censor">{{cite journal |last=Remy |first=Johannes |title=The Valuev Circular and Censorship of Ukrainian Publications in the Russian Empire (1863–1876): Intention and Practice |journal=Canadian Slavonic Papers |date=March–June 2007 |volume=47 |issue=1/2 |pages=87–110 |doi=10.1080/00085006.2007.11092432 |jstor=40871165 |s2cid=128680044}}</ref> The western part of present-day Ukraine was subsequently split between Russia and ]-ruled ] after the ] of the ] in 1795.

=== 19th and early 20th century ===
{{Main|Southwestern Krai|Kharkov Governorate|Chernigov Governorate|Ukrainian People's Republic|Ukrainian State}}
{{Further|Ukrainian national revival|Ukraine during World War I|Ukraine after the Russian Revolution|Ukrainian War of Independence|Ukrainian–Soviet War}}
] in May 1920 during the ]. Following the ] signed on 18 March 1921, Poland took control of modern-day western Ukraine while Soviets took control of eastern and central Ukraine.]]

The 19th century saw the rise of Ukrainian nationalism. With growing urbanization and modernization and a cultural trend toward ], a Ukrainian ] committed to national rebirth and social justice emerged. The serf-turned-national-poet ] (1814–1861) and political theorist ] (1841–1895) led the growing nationalist movement.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The First Ukrainian Political Program: Mykhailo Drahomanov's ''Introduction'' to Hromadaurl |url=http://www.ditext.com/rudnytsky/history/first.html |access-date=26 March 2021 |website=www.ditext.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Shevchenko, Taras |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CS%5CH%5CShevchenkoTaras.htm |access-date=1 November 2017 |website=encyclopediaofukraine.com}}</ref> While conditions for its development in Austrian ] under the ] were relatively lenient,<ref>{{cite book |last=Magocsi |first=Paul Robert |title=The Roots of Ukrainian Nationalism: Galicia as Ukraine's Piedmont |date=16 July 2018 |publisher=] |isbn=9781442682252 |doi=10.3138/9781442682252 |s2cid=128063569}}</ref> the Russian part (historically known as "]" or "South Russia")<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kravčenko |first=Volodymyr Vasylʹovyč |title=The Ukrainian-Russian borderland: history versus geography |date=2022 |publisher=McGill-Queen’s University Press |isbn=978-0-2280-1199-6 |location=Montreal & Kingston London Chicago |pages=26–35}}</ref> faced severe restrictions, going as far as ] in 1876.

Ukraine, like the rest of the Russian Empire, joined the ] ] than most of Western Europe<ref>{{Cite web |title=Industrial Revolution {{!}} Key Facts|url=https://www.britannica.com/summary/Industrial-Revolution-Key-Facts |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=December 2022}} due to the maintenance of ] until 1861.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Other than near the newly discovered coal fields of the ], and in some larger cities such as ] and Kyiv, Ukraine largely remained an agricultural and resource extraction economy.<ref>{{Cite web |title=On the industrial history of Ukraine|url=https://www.erih.net/how-it-started/industrial-history-of-european-countries/ukraine |access-date=2022-07-30 |website=European Route of Industrial Heritage}}</ref> The Austrian part of Ukraine ], which forced hundreds of thousands of peasants into emigration, who created the backbone of an extensive ] in countries such as ], the ] and ].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Satzewich |first=Vic |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/252946784 |title=The Ukrainian diaspora |date=2002 |publisher=] |isbn=0-415-29658-7 |location=London |oclc=252946784 |pages=26–48}}</ref> Some of the Ukrainians settled in the Far East, too. According to the ], there were 223,000 ethnic Ukrainians in ] and 102,000 in ].<ref>{{cite book|first1=Rainer |last1=Münz |first2=Rainer |last2=Ohliger |date=2003 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xGV6gb0w914C |title=Diasporas and Ethnic Migrants: German, Israel, and Post-Soviet Successor States in Comparative Perspective |publisher=] |page=164 |isbn=0-7146-5232-6 |via=]}}</ref> An additional 1.6 million emigrated to the east in the ten years after the opening of the ] in 1906.<ref>{{cite book|last=Subtelny |first=Orest |author-link=Orest Subtelny |date=2000 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC |title=Ukraine: a history |publisher=] |page=262 |isbn=0-8020-8390-0 |via=]}}</ref> ] areas with an ethnic Ukrainian population became known as ].<ref>{{cite book|first=Jonathan D. |last=Smele |date=2015 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QwquCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA476 |title=Historical Dictionary of the Russian Civil Wars, 1916–1926 |publisher=] |page=476 |isbn=978-1-4422-5281-3 |via=]}}</ref>

Ukraine plunged into turmoil with the beginning of ], and fighting on Ukrainian soil persisted until late 1921. Initially, the Ukrainians were split between Austria-Hungary, fighting for the ], though the vast majority served in the ], which was part of the ], under Russia.<ref>{{cite book |title=Ukraine: A History |last=Subtelny |first=Orest |publisher=] |year=2000 |isbn=978-0-8020-8390-6 |pages= |author-link=Orest Subtelny |url=https://archive.org/details/ukrainehistory00subt_0/page/340}}</ref> As the Russian Empire collapsed, the conflict evolved into the ], with Ukrainians fighting alongside, or against, the ], ], ] and ], with the Poles, Hungarians (in ]), and Germans also intervening at various times.

]
An attempt to create an independent state, the left-leaning ] (UNR), was first announced by ], but the period was plagued by an extremely unstable political and military environment. It was first deposed in a ] led by ], which yielded the ] under the German protectorate, and the attempt to restore the UNR under the ] ultimately failed as the Ukrainian army was regularly overrun by other forces. The short-lived ] and ] also failed to join the rest of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite book |last=Nahylo |first=Bohdan |date=1999 |title=The Ukrainian Resurgence |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iPCPxwubpYUC&dq=West+Ukrainian+People%27s+Republic++austria+hungary+territories&pg=PA8 |location=London |publisher=Hurst |page=8 |isbn=9781850651680 |oclc=902410832}}</ref>

The result of the conflict was a partial victory for the ], which annexed the Western Ukrainian provinces, as well as a larger-scale victory for the pro-Soviet forces, which succeeded in dislodging the remaining factions and eventually established the ] (Soviet Ukraine). Meanwhile, modern-day ] was occupied by ] and ] was admitted to ] as an autonomous region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine – World War I and the struggle for independence |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine |website=Encyclopædia Britannica|date=20 May 2023 }}</ref>

The conflict over Ukraine, a part of the broader ], devastated the whole of the former ], including eastern and central Ukraine. The fighting left over 1.5 million people dead and hundreds of thousands homeless in the former Russian Empire's territory. The eastern provinces were additionally impacted by a ].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Famine of 1920–1924 |url=http://www.volgagermans.net/norka/famine_1920s.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113021645/http://www.volgagermans.net/norka/famine_1920s.html |archive-date=13 January 2015 |access-date=4 March 2015 |website=The Norka – a German Colony in Russia }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Famine of 1921–3 |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages%5CF%5CA%5CFamineof1921hD73.htm |access-date=3 March 2015 |publisher=]}}</ref>

=== Inter-war period ===
{{See also|Holodomor}}
], 1933. ] of crops and their confiscation by Soviet authorities led to a major famine in Soviet Ukraine known as the ].]]

<!-- 1922–1939 -->During the inter-war period, in ], Marshal ] sought Ukrainian support by offering local autonomy as a way to minimise Soviet influence in Poland's eastern ] region.<ref>Timothy Snyder. (2003)The Causes of Ukrainian-Polish Ethnic Cleansing 1943, The Past and Present Society: Oxford University Press. p. 202</ref><ref>Timothy Snyder. (2005). ''Sketches from a Secret War: A Polish Artist's Mission to Liberate Soviet Ukraine''. New Haven: Yale University Press. pp. 32–33, 152–162</ref> However, this approach was abandoned after Piłsudski's death in 1935, due to continued unrest among the Ukrainian population, including assassinations of Polish government officials by the ] (OUN); with the Polish government responding by restricting rights of people who declared Ukrainian nationality.<ref name="auto2">{{Cite web |last=Revyuk |first=Emil |date=8 July 1931 |title=Polish Atrocities in Ukraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=imswAAAAIAAJ&q=ukrainophobia+poland |publisher=] |via=]}}</ref><ref name="auto3">{{Cite book |last=Skalmowski |first=Wojciech |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wp1R2srxDGEC&q=ukrainophobia+poland&pg=PA54 |title=For East is East: Liber Amicorum Wojciech Skalmowski |date=8 July 2003 |publisher=Peeters Publishers |isbn=9789042912984 |via=Google Books}}</ref> In consequence, the underground ] and militant movement, which arose in the 1920s gained wider support.

Meanwhile, the recently constituted Soviet Ukraine became one of the founding republics of the ]. During the 1920s,<ref>Subtelny, p. 380</ref> under the Ukrainisation policy pursued by the national Communist leadership of ], Soviet leadership at first encouraged a national renaissance in ] and ]. ] was part of the Soviet-wide policy of ] (literally ''indigenisation''), which was intended to promote the advancement of native peoples, their language and culture into the governance of their respective republics.

Around the same time, Soviet leader ] instituted the ] (NEP), which introduced a form of ], allowing some private ownership of small and medium-sized productive enterprises, hoping to reconstruct the post-war Soviet Union that had been devastated by both WWI and later the civil war. The NEP was successful at restoring the formerly war-torn nation to pre-WWI levels of production and agricultural output by the mid-1920s, much of the latter based in Ukraine.<ref name="Service">{{cite book |last=Service |first=Robert |title=A History of Twentieth-Century Russia |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1997 |isbn=0674403487 |location=Cambridge, MA |pages=124–125}}</ref> These policies attracted many prominent former UNR figures, including former UNR leader Hrushevsky, to return to Soviet Ukraine, where they were accepted, and participated in the advancement of Ukrainian science and culture.<ref>Christopher Gilley, 'The "Change of Signposts" in the Ukrainian emigration: Mykhailo Hrushevskyi and the Foreign Delegation of the Ukrainian Party of Socialist Revolutionaries', ''Jahrbücher für Geschichte Osteuropas'', Vol. 54, 2006, No. 3, pp. 345–74</ref>

This period was cut short when ] became the leader of the USSR following Lenin's death. Stalin did away with the NEP in what became known as the ]. Starting from the late 1920s and now with a ], Soviet Ukraine took part in an ] which quadrupled its industrial output during the 1930s.

However, as a consequence of Stalin's new policy, the Ukrainian peasantry suffered from the ] of agricultural crops. Collectivization was part of the ] and was enforced by regular troops and the secret police known as ]. Those who resisted were ] to ]s and work camps. As members of the collective farms were sometimes not allowed to receive any grain until unrealistic quotas were met, millions starved to death in a ] known as the ] or the "Great Famine", which was recognized by some countries as an act of ] perpetrated by ] and other Soviet notables.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/7111296.stm |title=Ukraine remembers famine horror |work=] |date=24 November 2007}}</ref>

Following on the Russian Civil War and collectivisation, the ], while killing Stalin's perceived political enemies, resulted in a profound loss of a new generation of Ukrainian ], known today as the ].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Wheatcroft |first=Stephen G. |author-link=Stephen G. Wheatcroft |date=2007 |title=Agency and Terror: Yevdokimov and Mass Killing in Stalin's Great Terror |journal=] |volume=53 |issue=1 |pages=20–43 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-8497.2007.00440.x |issn=0004-9522}} Full text in ]. See also Robert Conquest, ''The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet collectivization and the terror-famine'' (1986). Mark B. Tauger, "The 1932 Harvest and the Famine of 1933" ''Slavic Review'', Vol. 50, No. 1 (Spring, 1991), pp. 70–89, notes the harvest was unusually poor. ; ], Mark B. Tauger, ], "Stalin, Grain Stocks and the Famine of 1932–1933", ''Slavic Review,'' Vol. 54, No. 3 (Autumn, 1995), pp. 642–657 ; Michael Ellman. "Stalin and the Soviet famine of 1932–33 Revisited", ''Europe-Asia Studies'', Volume 59, Issue 4 June 2007, pages 663–693.</ref>

=== World War II ===
<!-- 1939–1945 -->
{{See also|Eastern Front (World War II)|Reichskommissariat Ukraine|The Holocaust in Ukraine}}
], 1922–1954{{citation needed|date=February 2023}}]]
Following the ] in September 1939, ] and ] troops divided the territory of Poland. Thus, Eastern ] and ] with their Ukrainian population became part of Ukraine. For the first time in history, the nation was united.<ref>Wilson, p. 17</ref><ref>Subtelny, p. 487</ref> Further territorial gains were secured in 1940, when the Ukrainian SSR incorporated the northern and southern districts of ], ], and the ] from the territories the USSR ], though it handed over the western part of the ] to the newly created ]. These territorial gains of the USSR were internationally recognized by the ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Treaty of Peace with Romania : February 10, 1947 |url=https://avalon.law.yale.edu/20th_century/usmu011.asp |access-date=2022-09-25 |website=]}}</ref>

] (born in the ] region) commanded numerous fronts throughout the war, including the ] east of Kyiv in 1941.]]
] ] on 22 June 1941, initiating nearly four years of ]. The ] initially advanced against desperate but unsuccessful efforts of the ]. In the ], the city was acclaimed as a "]", because of its fierce ]. More than 600,000 Soviet soldiers (or one-quarter of the ]) were killed or taken captive there, with many suffering ].<ref>Roberts, p. 102</ref><ref>Boshyk, p. 89</ref> After its conquest, most of the Ukrainian SSR was organised within the ], with the intention of exploiting its resources and eventual German settlement. Some western Ukrainians, who had only joined the Soviet Union in 1939, hailed the Germans as liberators, but that did not last long as the Nazis made little attempt to exploit dissatisfaction with Stalinist policies.<ref name="ww2">{{cite web |title=Ukraine – World War II and its aftermath |url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30080/Bukovina-under-Romanian-rule |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100227142736/https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30080/Bukovina-under-Romanian-rule |archive-date=27 February 2010 |access-date=28 December 2007 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica}}</ref> Instead, the Nazis preserved the collective-farm system, carried out ] against ], ], and began a depopulation program to prepare for German colonisation.<ref name="ww2"/> They blockaded the transport of food on the Dnieper River.<ref>{{cite book|author-link=Karel C. Berkhoff |first=Karel Cornelis |last=Berkhoff |title=Harvest of despair: life and death in Ukraine under Nazi rule |publisher=] |date=April 2004 |page=164}}</ref>

Although the majority of Ukrainians fought in or alongside the Red Army and ],<ref name="worldwars">{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkpath=pages\W\O\Worldwars.htm |title=World wars |access-date=20 December 2007 |website=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref> in Western Ukraine an independent ] movement arose (UPA, 1942). It was created as the armed forces of the underground ] (OUN).<ref>{{cite book |title=Ukraine: A History |last=Subtelny |first=Orest |year=1988 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HNIs9O3EmtQC&pg=PA106 |page=410 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=9781442609914 |via=]}}</ref><ref name="vedeneyev">{{Cite web |last=Vedeneev |first=Dmitry |date=7 March 2015 |title=Військово-польова жандармерія - спеціальний орган Української повстанської армії |trans-title=Military Field Gendarmerie - special body of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army |url=http://warhistory.ukrlife.org/5_6_02_4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150307183958/http://warhistory.ukrlife.org/5_6_02_4.htm |archive-date=7 March 2015 |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref> Both organizations, the OUN and the UPA, supported the goal of an ] on the territory with a Ukrainian ethnic majority. Although this brought conflict with Nazi Germany, at times the ] wing of the OUN allied with the Nazi forces. From mid-1943 until the end of the war, the UPA carried out ] in the ] and ] regions, killing around 100,000 Polish civilians, which brought reprisals.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Snyder |first=Timothy |date=24 February 2010 |title=A Fascist Hero in Democratic Kiev |url=https://www.nybooks.com/online/2010/02/24/a-fascist-hero-in-democratic-kiev/ |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=] |language=en}}</ref><ref name="IPNconf">{{cite conference|editor1-first=Grzegorz |editor1-last=Motyka |editor2-first=Dariusz |editor2-last=Libionka |editor1-link=Grzegorz Motyka |editor2-link=Dariusz Libionka |url=http://www.zbrodniawolynska.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/5221/Antypolska_Akcja_OUN_UPA.pdf |title=Antypolska Akcja OUN-UPA, 1943–1944, Fakty i Interpretacje |trans-title=Anti-Polish Action OUN-UPA, 1943–1944, Facts and Interpretations |publisher=] |year=2002 |location=Warsaw |first=Grzegorz |last=Motyka |chapter=Polska reakcja na działania UPA – skala i przebieg akcji odwetowych |trans-chapter=Polish reaction to the actions of the UPA – the scale and course of retaliation |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140819090728/http://www.zbrodniawolynska.pl/__data/assets/pdf_file/0010/5221/Antypolska_Akcja_OUN_UPA.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> These organized massacres were an attempt by the OUN to create a homogeneous Ukrainian state without a Polish minority living within its borders, and to prevent the post-war Polish state from asserting its sovereignty over areas that had been part of pre-war Poland.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Snyder |first1=Timothy |title=The Causes of Ukrainian-Polish Ethnic Cleansing 1943 |journal=Past & Present |date=2003 |issue=179 |pages=197–234 |doi=10.1093/past/179.1.197 |jstor=3600827 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/3600827 |issn=0031-2746 }}</ref> After the war, the UPA continued to fight the USSR until the 1950s.<ref>Piotrowski pp. 352–354</ref><ref>Weiner pp. 127–237</ref> At the same time, the ], another nationalist movement, fought alongside the Nazis.<ref name="Kalb2015">{{cite book |first=Marvin |last=Kalb |date=21 September 2015 |title=Imperial Gamble: Putin, Ukraine, and the New Cold War |publisher=Brookings Institution Press |pages= |isbn=978-0-8157-2665-4 |oclc=1058866168 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wLe6CQAAQBAJ&pg=PT105}}</ref>

] suffered significant damage during ], and was occupied by the ] from 19 September 1941 until 6 November 1943.]]

In total, the number of ethnic Ukrainians who fought in the ranks of the Soviet Army is estimated from 4.5&nbsp;million<ref name="worldwars"/> to 7&nbsp;million;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000020 |title=Losses of the Ukrainian Nation, p. 2 |access-date=16 December 2007 |website=Peremoga.gov.ua |language=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515091804/http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000020 |archive-date=15 May 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref>{{Efn|name=fn1|These figures are likely to be much higher, as they '''do not''' include Ukrainians of other nationalities or Ukrainian Jews, but only ] Ukrainians, from the Ukrainian SSR.}} half of the ] guerrilla resistance units, which counted up to 500,000 troops in 1944, were also Ukrainian.<ref>Subtelny, p. 476</ref> Generally, the Ukrainian Insurgent Army's figures are unreliable, with figures ranging anywhere from 15,000 to as many as 100,000 fighters.<ref>Magocsi, p. 635</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?linkPath=pages\U\K\UkrainianInsurgentArmy.htm |title=Ukrainian Insurgent Army |access-date=20 December 2007 |website=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>

The vast majority of the fighting in World War II took place on the ].<ref>Weinberg, p. 264</ref> The ] inflicted upon the Ukrainian population during the war are estimated at 6 million,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?3450000000000000010 |title=Losses of the Ukrainian Nation |page=1 |access-date=16 December 2007 |website=Peremoga.gov.ua |language=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071025001902/http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?3450000000000000010 |archive-date=25 October 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="dt-kul-dem-los">{{cite web |script-title=uk:Демографічні втрати України в хх столітті |title=Demohrafichni vtraty Ukrayiny v khkh stolitti |trans-title=Demographic losses of Ukraine in the 20 century |url=https://dt.ua/SOCIUM/demografichni_vtrati_ukrayini_v_hh_stolitti.html |author=Stanislav Kulchytskyi |publisher=] |date=1 October 2004 |place=], Ukraine |access-date=20 January 2021 |language=uk }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> including an estimated one and a half million Jews killed by the ],<ref>{{cite news |last=Smale |first=Alison |date=27 January 2014 |title=Shedding Light on a Vast Toll of Jews Killed Away From the Death Camps |newspaper=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/28/world/europe/a-light-on-a-vast-toll-of-jews-killed-away-from-the-death-camps.html |access-date=13 December 2023}}</ref> sometimes with the help of local collaborators. Of the estimated 8.6 million Soviet troop losses,<ref name="peremoga7">{{cite web |url=http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000070 |title=Losses of the Ukrainian Nation, p. 7 |access-date=16 December 2007 |website=Peremoga.gov.ua |language=uk |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050515100506/http://www.peremoga.gov.ua/index.php?2150005000000000070 |archive-date=15 May 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>Overy, p. 518</ref><ref name="Krivosheev">Кривошеев Г. Ф., ''Россия и СССР в войнах XX века: потери вооруженных сил. Статистическое исследование'' (Krivosheev G. F., ''Russia and the USSR in the wars of the 20th century: losses of the Armed Forces. A Statistical Study'') {{in lang|ru}}</ref> 1.4&nbsp;million were ethnic ].<ref name="peremoga7"/><ref name="Krivosheev"/>{{Efn|name=fn1}}{{Efn|This figure excludes ] deaths.}} The ] is celebrated as one of eleven Ukrainian national holidays.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |date=2021-12-29 |title=Вихідні та святкові дні 2022 року в Україні/Holidays 2022 in Ukraine |url=https://ny.mfa.gov.ua/posolstvo/5259-vihidni-ta-svyatkovi-dni |access-date=2022-07-31 |website=Consulate General of Ukraine in New York |language=uk |archive-date=4 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220804060355/https://ny.mfa.gov.ua/posolstvo/5259-vihidni-ta-svyatkovi-dni |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Post–war Soviet Ukraine ===
{{Further|Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic|History of the Soviet Union (1953–1964)|History of the Soviet Union (1964–1982)|History of the Soviet Union (1982–1991)|Chernobyl disaster}}
], ] (left, pre-war ] chief in Ukraine) and ] (an engineer from ], Ukraine)]]

The republic was heavily damaged by the war, and it required significant efforts to recover. More than 700 cities and towns and 28,000 villages were destroyed.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30082/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929133150/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30082/Ukraine |archive-date=29 September 2007 |title=Ukraine: World War II and its aftermath |access-date=12 September 2007 |website=] (fee required) |url-status=dead}}</ref> The situation was worsened by a ] in 1946–1947, which was caused by a drought and the wartime destruction of infrastructure, killing at least tens of thousands of people.<ref name="dt-kul-dem-los"/> In 1945, the Ukrainian SSR became one of the founding members of the ] (UN),<ref name="un ukssr">{{cite web |url=https://www.un.org/depts/dhl/unms/ukraine.shtml |title=Activities of the Member States – Ukraine |access-date=17 January 2011 |publisher=United Nations}}</ref> part of a special agreement at the ], and, alongside Belarus, had voting rights in the UN even though they were not independent.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm |title=United Nations |publisher=U.S. Department of State |quote=Voting procedures and the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council were finalized at the ] in 1945 when Roosevelt and Stalin agreed that the veto would not prevent discussions by the Security Council. Roosevelt agreed to General Assembly membership for Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right, which was never exercised, to seek two more votes for the United States. |access-date=22 September 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=United Nations |url=https://2001-2009.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/wwii/17604.htm |access-date=2014-09-22 |publisher=U.S. Department of State |quote=Voting procedures and the veto power of permanent members of the Security Council were finalized at the Yalta Conference in 1945 when Roosevelt and Stalin agreed that the veto would not prevent discussions by the Security Council. In April 1945, new U.S. President Truman agreed to General Assembly membership for Ukraine and Byelorussia while reserving the right, which was never exercised, to seek two more votes for the United States.}}</ref> Moreover, Ukraine once more expanded its borders as it annexed ], and the population became much more homogenized due to post-war ], most of which, as in the case of ] and ], were forced. As of 1 January 1953, Ukrainians were second only to Russians among adult "]", comprising 20% of the total.<ref name="Malynovska">{{cite web |url=http://www.niisp.org.ua/defa~177.php |title=Migration and migration policy in Ukraine |first=Olena |last=Malynovska |date=14 June 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130923061703/http://niisp.org.ua/defa~177.php |archive-date=23 September 2013}}</ref>

Following the death of Stalin in 1953, ] became the new leader of the USSR, who began the policies of ] and the ]. During his term as head of the Soviet Union, ] was ] from the ] to the ], formally as a friendship gift to Ukraine and for economic reasons.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.iccrimea.org/historical/crimeatransfer.html |title=The Transfer of Crimea to Ukraine |access-date=25 March 2007 |date=July 2005 |publisher=International Committee for Crimea}}</ref> This represented the final extension of Ukrainian territory and formed the basis for the internationally recognized borders of Ukraine to this day. Ukraine was one of the most important republics of the Soviet Union, which resulted in many top positions in the Soviet Union being occupied by Ukrainians, including notably ], ] from 1964 to 1982. However, it was he and his ], ], who presided over the extensive ] of Ukraine and who were instrumental in repressing a new generation of Ukrainian intellectuals known as the ].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cook |first1=Bernard A. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hafLHZgZtt4C&q=shcherbytsky+russification&pg=PA1280 |title=Europe Since 1945: An Encyclopedia |last2=Cook |first2=Bernard Anthony |date=2001 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-0-8153-4058-4 |language=en}}</ref>

By 1950, the republic had fully surpassed pre-war levels of industry and production.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30084/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115052626/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30084/Ukraine |archive-date=15 January 2008 |title=Ukraine – The last years of Stalin's rule |access-date=28 December 2007 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required) |url-status=dead}}</ref> Soviet Ukraine soon became a European leader in industrial production<ref>Magocsi, p. 644</ref> and an important centre of the Soviet ] and high-tech research, though heavy industry still had an outsided influence.<ref>Magocsi, 1996, p. 704</ref> The Soviet government invested in hydroelectric and nuclear power projects to cater to the energy demand that the development carried. On 26 April 1986, however, a reactor in the ] exploded, resulting in the ], the worst ] accident in history.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n2_v33/ai_18795971 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120628220746/http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1309/is_n2_v33/ai_18795971/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2012 |title='Sombre anniversary' of worst nuclear disaster in history – Chernobyl: 10th anniversary |access-date=16 December 2007 |author=Remy, Johannes |year=1996 |publisher=Find articles |work=] }}</ref>

=== Independence ===
{{further|Modern history of Ukraine|Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Orange Revolution|Revolution of Dignity|Russo-Ukrainian War}}
<!-- 1990-2022 -->
] and Russian President ] signing the ], which ], on 8 December 1991]]
] pursued a policy of limited liberalization of public life, known as ''],'' and attempted to reform a ]. The latter failed, but the democratization of the Soviet Union fuelled nationalist and separatist tendencies among the ethnic minorities, including Ukrainians.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geller |first=Mikhail |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/24243579 |title=Седьмой секретарь: Блеск и нищета Михаила Горбачева|date=1991 |isbn=1-870128-72-9 |edition=1st Russian |location=London |oclc=24243579|page=352=356}}</ref> As part of the so-called ], on 16 July 1990, the newly elected ] adopted the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Declaration_of_State_Sovereignty_of_Ukraine_rev1.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927224650/http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Declaration_of_State_Sovereignty_of_Ukraine_rev1.htm |archive-date=27 September 2007 |title=Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine |access-date=12 September 2007 |date=16 July 1990 |website=] of Ukraine}}</ref> After a ] by some Communist leaders in Moscow at deposing Gorbachov, outright independence was ] on 24 August 1991.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Rres_Declaration_Independence_rev12.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070930203430/http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/site/postanova_eng/Rres_Declaration_Independence_rev12.htm |archive-date=30 September 2007 |title=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine Resolution On Declaration of Independence of Ukraine |access-date=12 September 2007 |date=24 August 1991 |website=] of Ukraine}}</ref> It was approved by 92% of the Ukrainian electorate in a ] on 1 December.<ref name="Nohlen_Stöver">Nohlen & Stöver, p1985</ref> Ukraine's new ], Leonid Kravchuk, went on to sign the ] and made Ukraine a founding member of the much looser ] (CIS),<ref>{{cite news |title=Soviet Leaders Recall 'Inevitable' Breakup Of Soviet Union |url=http://www.rferl.org/content/article/1073305.html |work=] |date=8 December 2006 |access-date=12 September 2007}}</ref> though Ukraine never became a full member of the latter as it did not ratify the agreement founding CIS.<ref name=":2">{{cite news| url = https://www.radiosvoboda.org/a/ukrayina-dosi-v-snd-chy-ni/30969197.html| title = "Україні не потрібно виходити із СНД – вона ніколи не була і не є зараз членом цієї структури"| newspaper = Радіо Свобода| date = 26 November 2020| last1 = Лащенко| first1 = Олександр}}</ref> These documents sealed the fate of the Soviet Union, which formally voted itself out of existence on 26 December.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Solodkov |first=Artem |date=27 December 2021 |title=Период распада: последний декабрь Союза. 26 декабря 1991 года |url=https://www.rbc.ru/politics/27/12/2021/585bea709a794761ac0b5c55 |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=РБК |language=ru}}</ref>

Ukraine was initially viewed as having favourable economic conditions in comparison to the other regions of the Soviet Union,<ref>Shen, p. 41</ref> though it was one of the poorer Soviet republics by the time of the dissolution.<ref name="Notstronk">{{Cite web |last1=Sutela |first1=Pekka |title=The Underachiever: Ukraine's Economy Since 1991 |url=https://carnegieendowment.org/2012/03/09/underachiever-ukraine-s-economy-since-1991-pub-47451 |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Carnegie Endowment for International Peace |language=en}}</ref> However, during its transition to the market economy, the country experienced deeper economic slowdown than almost all of the other ]. During the recession, between 1991 and 1999, Ukraine lost 60% of its GDP<ref name=IMF>{{cite web |url=http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/weo/2007/02/weodata/weorept.aspx?sy=1992&ey=2008&scsm=1&ssd=1&sort=country&ds=.&br=1&c=926&s=PPPGDP&grp=0&a=&pr1.x=41&pr1.y=2 |title=Ukrainian GDP (PPP) |access-date=10 March 2008 |website=World Economic Outlook Database, October 2007 |publisher=] (IMF)}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/june1998/ukraine.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000712025953/http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/june1998/ukraine.htm |archive-date=12 July 2000 |title=Can Ukraine Avert a Financial Meltdown? |access-date=16 December 2007 |date=June 1998 |website=]}}</ref> and suffered from ] that peaked at 10,000% in 1993.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Figliuoli |first1=Lorenzo |last2=Lissovolik |first2=Bogdan |date=31 August 2002 |title=The IMF and Ukraine: What Really Happened |url=http://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2002/083102.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20021017151905/http://www.imf.org/external/np/vc/2002/083102.htm |archive-date=17 October 2002 |access-date=16 December 2007 |website=]}}</ref> The situation only stabilized well after the new currency, the ], fell sharply in late 1998 partially as a fallout from the ] earlier that year.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Дефолт 1998 года: 10 лет спустя |url=https://ukraine.segodnya.ua/ukraine/defolt-1998-hoda-10-let-cpuctja-122939.html |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=ukraine.segodnya.ua |date=11 July 2022 |language=ru}}</ref> The legacy of the economic policies of the nineties was the mass privatization of state property that created a class of extremely powerful and rich individuals known as the ].<ref name="Notstronk"/> The country then fell into a series of sharp recessions as a result of the ],<ref name="Notstronk"/> the start of the ] in 2014,<ref>{{Cite web |date=2017-04-05 |title=The stable crisis. Ukraine's economy three years after the Euromaidan |url=https://www.osw.waw.pl/en/publikacje/osw-commentary/2017-04-05/stable-crisis-ukraines-economy-three-years-after-euromaidan |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=OSW Centre for Eastern Studies |language=en}}</ref> and finally, the ] by Russia in starting from 24 February 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=War to cause Ukraine economy to shrink nearly a third this year – EBRD report – Ukraine|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/war-cause-ukraine-economy-shrink-nearly-third-year-ebrd-report |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=ReliefWeb |date=10 May 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Ukraine's economy in general underperformed since the time independence came due to pervasive ] and mismanagement,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Dickinson |first=Peter |date=2021-06-19 |title=Ukraine's choice: corruption or growth |url=https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/ukraines-choice-corruption-or-growth/ |access-date=2022-08-03 |website=Atlantic Council |language=en-US}}</ref> which, particularly in the 1990s, led to protests and organized strikes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aslund |first1=Anders |date=Autumn 1995 |title=Eurasia Letter: Ukraine's Turnaround |journal=] |issue=100 |pages=125–143 |doi=10.2307/1149308 |volume=100 |last2=Aslund |first2=Anders |jstor=1149308}}</ref> The war with Russia impeded meaningful economic recovery in the 2010s,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mykhnenko |first=Vlad |date=2020-03-15 |title=Causes and Consequences of the War in Eastern Ukraine: An Economic Geography Perspective |journal=Europe-Asia Studies |volume=72 |issue=3 |pages=528–560 |doi=10.1080/09668136.2019.1684447 |s2cid=214438848 |issn=0966-8136|doi-access=free }}</ref> while efforts to combat the ], which arrived in 2020, were made much harder by ]<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ludvigsson |first1=Jonas F. |last2=Loboda |first2=Andrii |date=July 2022 |title=Systematic review of health and disease in Ukrainian children highlights poor child health and challenges for those treating refugees |journal=] |language=en |volume=111 |issue=7 |pages=1341–1353 |doi=10.1111/apa.16370 |issn=0803-5253 |pmc=9324783 |pmid=35466444}}</ref> and, later in the pandemic, by the ongoing invasion.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Impact of war on the dynamics of COVID-19 in Ukraine - Ukraine|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/impact-war-dynamics-covid-19-ukraine |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=reliefweb.int |date=17 April 2022 |language=en}}</ref>

] protest in Kyiv, December 2013]]
From the political perspective, one of the defining features of the ] is that for most of the time, it has been divided along two issues: the relation between Ukraine, the ] and Russia, and the classical ] divide.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Shevel |first=Oxana |date=2015-09-01 |title=The parliamentary elections in Ukraine, October 2014 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0261379415000608 |journal=Electoral Studies |language=en |volume=39 |pages=159–163 |doi=10.1016/j.electstud.2015.03.015 |issn=0261-3794}}</ref> The first two presidents, Kravchuk and ], tended to balance the competing visions of Ukraine,<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuzio |first=Taras |date=2005-10-01 |title=Neither East Nor West: Ukraine's Security Policy Under Kuchma |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/10758216.2005.11052215 |journal=] |volume=52 |issue=5 |pages=59–68 |doi=10.1080/10758216.2005.11052215 |s2cid=157151441 |issn=1075-8216}}</ref> though ] and ] were generally pro-Western and pro-Russian, respectively. There were two major protests against Yanukovych: the ] in 2004, when tens of thousands of people went in protest of ] in his favour (Yushchenko was eventually elected president), and another one in the winter of 2013/2014, when more gathered on the ] to oppose Yanukovych's refusal to sign the ]. By the end of the protests on 21 February 2014, he fled from Ukraine and was removed by the parliament in what is termed the ], but Russia refused to recognize the interim pro-Western government, calling it a '']'' and denouncing the events as a ] sponsored by the United States.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2014-04-25 |title="Хунта" и "террористы": война слов Москвы и Киева |url=https://www.bbc.com/russian/blogs/2014/04/140425_blog_krechetnikov_harsh_speech |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=BBC News Русская служба |language=ru}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Putin accuses US of orchestrating 2014 'coup' in Ukraine |date=22 June 2021 |access-date=3 March 2022 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/6/22/russias-putin-accuses-us-of-orchestrating-2014-coup-in-ukraine |publisher=]}}</ref><ref name="Partido da imprensa Golpista">{{Cite web |title=The Maidan in 2014 is a coup d'etat: a review of Italian and German pro-Russian media |url=https://voxukraine.org/en/the-maidan-in-2014-is-a-coup-d-etat-a-review-of-italian-and-german-pro-russian-media |access-date=2022-08-04 |website= |language=en-US}}</ref>

Even though Russia had signed the ] in 1994 that said that Ukraine was to hand over ] in exchange of security guarantees and those of territorial integrity, it reacted violently to these developments and started a ]. In late February and early March 2014, it ] using its ] in ] as well as the so- called ]; after this succeeded, it then launched a ] via the breakaway ] and ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kuzio |first=Taras |date=2018-05-04 |title=Euromaidan revolution, Crimea and Russia–Ukraine war: why it is time for a review of Ukrainian–Russian studies |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/15387216.2019.1571428 |journal=] |volume=59 |issue=3–4 |pages=529–553 |doi=10.1080/15387216.2019.1571428 |s2cid=159414642 |issn=1538-7216}}</ref> The first months of the conflict with the Russian-backed separatists were fluid, but Russian forces then started an open invasion in Donbas on 24 August 2014. Together they pushed back Ukrainian troops to the frontline established in February 2015, i.e. after Ukrainian troops ].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hosaka |first=Sanshiro |date=2019-07-03 |title=Putin the 'Peacemaker'?—Russian Reflexive Control During the 2014 August Invasion of Ukraine |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/13518046.2019.1646950 |journal=The Journal of Slavic Military Studies |language=en |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=324–346 |doi=10.1080/13518046.2019.1646950 |s2cid=210591255 |issn=1351-8046}}</ref> The conflict remained in a sort of ] until the early hours of 24 February 2022,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Potočňák |first1=Adam |last2=Mares |first2=Miroslav |date=2022-05-16 |title=Donbas Conflict: How Russia's Trojan Horse Failed and Forced Moscow to Alter Its Strategy |journal=] |volume=70 |issue=4 |pages=341–351 |doi=10.1080/10758216.2022.2066005 |s2cid=248838806 |issn=1075-8216|doi-access=free }}</ref> when Russia proceeded with an ] of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Lock |first1=Samantha |last2=Singh |first2=Maanvi |last3=Oladipo |first3=Gloria |last4=Michael |first4=Chris |last5=Jones |first5=Sam |date=24 February 2022 |title=Ukraine-Russia crisis live news: Putin declares operation to 'demilitarise' Ukraine – latest updates |language=en-GB |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/feb/23/ukraine-russia-news-crisis-latest-live-updates-putin-biden-europe-sanctions-russian-invasion-border-troops |access-date=24 February 2022 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> Russian troops control about 17% of Ukraine's internationally recognized territory, which constitutes 94% of ], 73% of ], 72% of ], 54% of ] and all of Crimea,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2023/feb/21/a-year-of-war-how-russian-forces-have-been-pushed-back-in-ukraine|title=A year of war: how Russian forces have been pushed back in Ukraine|first1=Pablo|last1=Gutiérrez|first2=Ashley|last2=Kirk|website=the Guardian}}</ref> though Russia failed with its initial plan, with Ukrainian troops recapturing some territory in counteroffensives.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lonas |first=Lexi |date=2022-05-12 |title=5 ways Russia has failed in its invasion |url=https://thehill.com/policy/international/3486213-5-ways-russia-has-failed-in-its-invasion/ |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=] |language=en-US}}</ref>
] as of {{Date}}]]
The military conflict with Russia shifted the government's policy towards the West. Shortly after Yanukovych fled Ukraine, the country signed the EU association agreement in June 2014, and its citizens were granted visa-free travel to the European Union three years later. In January 2019, the ] was recognized as independent of Moscow, which reversed the ] of the patriarch of Constantinople and dealt a further blow to Moscow's influence in Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine Country Report |url=https://www.eu-listco.net/publications/ukraine-country-report |access-date=2022-08-04 |website=EU-LISTCO |date=11 December 2019 |language=en-ZA}}</ref> Finally, amid a full-scale war with Russia, Ukraine was granted ] to the European Union on 23 June 2022.<ref name="BBC News">{{Cite news |date=2022-06-23 |title=EU awards Ukraine and Moldova candidate status |language=en-GB |work=] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-61891467 |access-date=2022-08-04}}</ref> A broad anti-corruption drive began in early 2023 with the resignations of several deputy ministers and regional heads during a reshuffle of the government.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-01-24 |title=Top Ukrainian officials quit in anti-corruption drive |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-64383388 |access-date=2023-01-25}}</ref>

== Geography ==
{{Main|Geography of Ukraine}}
]
Ukraine is the ], after Russia, and the largest country entirely in Europe. Lying between latitudes ] and ], and longitudes ] and ]., it is mostly in the ]. Ukraine covers an area of {{convert|603550|km2}}, with a coastline of {{convert|2782|km}}.<ref name="cia"/>

The landscape of Ukraine consists mostly of fertile ] (plains with few trees) and plateaus, crossed by rivers such as the ] ({{lang|uk-Latn|Dnipro}}), ], ] and the ] as they flow south into the ] and the smaller ]. To the southwest, the ] forms the border with Romania. Ukraine's regions have diverse geographic features, ranging from the highlands to the lowlands. The country's only mountains are the ] in the west, of which the highest is ] at {{convert|2061|m}}, and the ], in the extreme south along the coast.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30093/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115052701/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30093/Ukraine |archive-date=15 January 2008 |title=Ukraine – Relief |access-date=27 December 2007 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required) |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ukraine also has a number of highland regions such as the ] (in the west) and the Near-Dnipro Upland (on the right bank of the Dnieper). To the east there are the south-western spurs of the ] over which runs the border with Russia. Near the ] are the Donets Ridge and the Near Azov Upland. The ] from the mountains feeds the rivers and their ].

Significant natural resources in Ukraine include ],<ref>{{Cite news |last=Tabuchi |first=Hiroko |author-link=Hiroko Tabuchi |date=2 March 2022 |title=Before Invasion, Ukraine's Lithium Wealth Was Drawing Global Attention |language=en-US |work=] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/02/climate/ukraine-lithium.html |access-date=3 March 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> natural gas,<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Mining – UkraineInvest |date=8 May 2020 |url=https://ukraineinvest.gov.ua/industries/mining/ |access-date=3 March 2022 |language=en-US}}</ref> ],<ref name=":0"/> timber<ref>{{Cite web |last=Nature |first=Preferred by |title=Ukraine Timber Risk Profile |url=https://preferredbynature.org/sourcinghub/timber/ukraine-timber-risk-profile |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=NEPCon – Preferred by Nature |language=en |archive-date=26 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201126092543/https://preferredbynature.org/sourcinghub/timber/ukraine-timber-risk-profile |url-status=dead }}</ref> and an abundance of ].<ref>{{Cite book |date=2020 |title=Overview of soil conditions of arable land in Ukraine – Study case for steppe and forest-steppe zones. |url=https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/ca7761en/ |access-date=7 March 2022 |publisher=] |doi=10.4060/ca7761en |isbn=978-92-5-132215-4 |s2cid=242588829 |language=en }}</ref> Ukraine has many environmental issues.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 February 2022 |title=Ukraine invasion: rapid overview of environmental issues |url=https://ceobs.org/ukraine-invasion-rapid-overview-of-environmental-issues/ |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=CEOBS |language=en-GB}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 2016 |title=Ukraine Country Environmental Analysis |url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/handle/10986/24971 |journal=] |language=en-US |last1=Bank |first1=World|doi=10.1596/24971 |hdl=10986/24971 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> Some regions lack adequate supplies of potable water.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) |url=https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en/water-sanitation-and-hygiene-wash |access-date=3 March 2022 |website=www.unicef.org |language=en |archive-date=3 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303120132/https://www.unicef.org/ukraine/en/water-sanitation-and-hygiene-wash |url-status=dead }}</ref> Air and water pollution affects the country, as well as deforestation, and radiation contamination in the northeast from the 1986 accident at the ] Nuclear Power Plant.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://naturvernforbundet.no/international/environmental-issues-in-ukraine/category948.html |title=Environmental issues in Ukraine |publisher=Naturvernforbundet |date=16 July 2017 |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306201646/https://naturvernforbundet.no/international/environmental-issues-in-ukraine/category948.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> The environmental damage caused by the ] has been described as an ], the ] of ], severe pollution and millions of tonnes of contaminated debris is estimated to cost over ] 50 billion to repair.<ref name="pax"> PAX for Peace. 24 February 2023. Accessed 30 April 2023.</ref><ref name="enviroyale"> e360.yale.edu. 22 February 2023. Accessed 30 April 2023.</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=19 March 2022 |title=Ukrainians hope to rebuild greener country after Russia's war causes 'ecocide' |work=] |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/climate-change/news/ukraine-green-ecocide-russia-war-b2038825.html |access-date=7 June 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2 June 2023 |title=The Environmental Cost of the War in Ukraine |url=https://www.irreview.org/articles/the-environmental-cost-of-the-war-in-ukraine |access-date=7 June 2023 |website=International Relations Review |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Graham-Harrison |first=Emma |date=27 August 2022 |title=Toxins in soil, blasted forests – Ukraine counts cost of Putin's 'ecocide' |language=en-GB |work=The Observer |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/aug/27/destroyed-nature-ukrainians-race-to-gather-evidence-of-putins-ecocide |access-date=7 June 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=One Year In, Russia's War on Ukraine Has Inflicted $51 Billion in Environmental Damage |url=https://e360.yale.edu/digest/russia-ukraine-war-environmental-cost-one-year |access-date=2023-07-01 |website=Yale E360 |language=en-US}}</ref>{{Excessive citations inline|date=September 2023}}

=== Climate ===
] map of Ukraine]]
Ukraine is in the mid-latitudes, and generally has a ], except for its southern coasts, which have ] and ]s.<ref name=faoclimate>{{cite web|url=http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/Counprof/Ukraine/ukraine.htm |title=Ukraine |work=Country Pasture/Forage Resource Profiles |publisher=] |access-date=8 August 2016 |archive-date=6 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161006014817/http://www.fao.org/ag/agp/AGPC/doc/Counprof/Ukraine/ukraine.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> Average annual temperatures range from {{convert|5.5|–|7|°C|°F|1}} in the north, to {{convert|11|–|13|°C|°F|1}} in the south.<ref name="ebclimate">{{cite encyclopedia |title=Ukraine – Climate |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine |access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref> ] is highest in the west and north and lowest in the east and southeast.<ref name=ebclimate/> Western Ukraine, particularly in the Carpathian Mountains, receives around {{convert|120|cm|in|1}} of precipitation annually, while Crimea and the coastal areas of the Black Sea receive around {{convert|40|cm|in|1}}.<ref name=ebclimate/>

Water availability from the major river basins is expected to decrease ], especially in summer. This poses risks to the agricultural sector.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Didovets |first1=Iulii |last2=Krysanova |first2=Valentina |last3=Hattermann |first3=Fred Fokko |last4=del Rocío Rivas López |first4=María |last5=Snizhko |first5=Sergiy |last6=Müller Schmied |first6=Hannes |date=1 December 2020 |title=Climate change impact on water availability of main river basins in Ukraine |journal=Journal of Hydrology: Regional Studies |language=en |volume=32 |pages=100761 |doi=10.1016/j.ejrh.2020.100761 |bibcode=2020JHyRS..3200761D |s2cid=230613418 |issn=2214-5818|doi-access=free }}</ref> The negative ] are mostly felt in the south of the country, which has a ] climate. In the north, some crops may be able to benefit from a longer growing season.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Skrypnyk |first1=Andriy |last2=Zhemoyda |first2=Oleksandr |last3=Klymenko |first3=Nataliia |last4=Galaieva |first4=Liudmyla |last5=Koval |first5=Tatiana |date=1 March 2021 |title=Econometric Analysis of the Impact of Climate Change on the Sustainability of Agricultural Production in Ukraine |url=http://www.jeeng.net/Econometric-Analysis-of-the-Impact-of-Climate-Change-on-the-Sustainability-of-Agricultural,132945,0,2.html |journal=Journal of Ecological Engineering |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=275–288 |doi=10.12911/22998993/132945 |s2cid=233801987 |issn=2299-8993|doi-access=free }}</ref> The ] has stated that Ukraine is highly ].<ref>{{cite web |title=World Bank Climate Change Knowledge Portal |url=https://climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org/country/ukraine |website=climateknowledgeportal.worldbank.org |language=en}}</ref>

=== Biodiversity ===
{{main|Wildlife of Ukraine}}
] plateau, in Crimea designated by the Ukrainian government as a natural heritage site.]]
Ukraine contains six terrestrial ]s: ], ], ], ], ], and ].<ref name="DinersteinOlson2017">{{cite journal |last1=Dinerstein |first1=Eric |last2=Olson |first2=David |last3=Joshi |first3=Anup |last4=Vynne |first4=Carly |last5=Burgess |first5=Neil D. |last6=Wikramanayake |first6=Eric |last7=Hahn |first7=Nathan |last8=Palminteri |first8=Suzanne |last9=Hedao |first9=Prashant |last10=Noss |first10=Reed |last11=Hansen |first11=Matt |display-authors=1 |year=2017 |title=An Ecoregion-Based Approach to Protecting Half the Terrestrial Realm |journal=] |volume=67 |issue=6 |pages=534–545 |doi=10.1093/biosci/bix014 |issn=0006-3568 |pmc=5451287 |pmid=28608869 |doi-access=free |last18=Martin |first42=Yara |first45=Paulo |last45=van Breugel |first44=Jens-Peter Barnekow |last44=Lillesø |first43=Roeland |last43=Kindt |last42=Shennan-Farpón |first46=Lars |first41=Heinz |last41=Klöser |first40=Jonathan |last40=Timberlake |first39=Shahina A. |last39=Ghazanfar |first38=Annette |last46=Graudal |last47=Voge |first37=Anthony G. |last15=Barber |last12=Locke |first12=Harvey |last13=Ellis |first13=Erle C |last14=Jones |first14=Benjamin |first15=Charles Victor |first47=Maianna |last16=Hayes |first16=Randy |last17=Kormos |first49=Muhammad |last49=Saleem |first48=Khalaf F. |last48=Al-Shammari |last38=Patzelt |last37=Miller |first18=Vance |last23=Weeden |last26=Sizer |first25=Crystal |last25=Davis |first24=Kierán |last24=Suckling |first23=Don |first22=Jonathan E. M. |last27=Moore |last22=Baillie |first21=Lori |last21=Price |first20=Wes |last20=Sechrest |first19=Eileen |last19=Crist |first26=Nigel |first27=Rebecca |first36=Othman A. |first32=Alexandra |last36=Llewellyn |first35=José C. |last35=Brito |first34=Lilian |last34=Pintea |first33=Nadia |last33=de Souza |last32=Tyukavina |last28=Thau |first31=Svetlana |last31=Turubanova |first30=Peter |last30=Potapov |first29=Tanya |last29=Birch |first17=Cyril |first28=David}}</ref> There is somewhat more ]ous than ] forest.<ref name="ShvidenkoBukshaKrakovska2017"/> The most densely forested area is ] in the northwest, with pine, oak, and birch.<ref name="ShvidenkoBukshaKrakovska2017">{{cite journal |last1=Shvidenko |first1=Anatoly |last2=Buksha |first2=Igor |last3=Krakovska |first3=Svitlana |last4=Lakyda |first4=Petro |title=Vulnerability of Ukrainian Forests to Climate Change |journal=] |date=30 June 2017 |volume=9 |issue=7 |page=1152 |eissn=2071-1050 | doi = 10.3390/su9071152 |pmid= |url= |doi-access=free}}</ref> There are 45,000 species of animals (mostly invertebrates),<ref name="Conference2001">{{cite book |author=Council of Europe. Conference |date=1 January 2001 |title=Conference Sur la Conservation Et Le Suivi de la Diversite Biologique Et Paysagere en Ukraine |language=fr |trans-title=Conference on the Conservation and Monitoring of Biological and Landscape Diversity in Ukraine |publisher=] |pages=78– |isbn=9789287146458 |oclc=1056440382 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OuALwoUqnU8C&pg=PA78}}</ref> with approximately 385 endangered species listed in the ].<ref name=State>{{Cite web |url=http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/ukraina/soe98/pressure%5Cfauna%5Cindex.htm |title=Welcome to State of The Environment in Ukraine |access-date=21 October 2013 |publisher=The Ministry for Environmental Protection and Nuclear Safety of Ukraine |archive-date=7 July 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090707031611/http://enrin.grida.no/htmls/ukraina/soe98/pressure/fauna/index.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> ] cover over {{convert|7000|sqkm|sqmi|-2}}, with the ] being important for conservation.<ref name=wetland>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/sitelist.pdf|title=The List of Wetlands of International Importance |work=Ukraine |date=11 October 2013 |access-date=21 October 2013 |publisher=Ramsar Organization}}</ref><ref name=Ramsar>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ramsar.org/pdf/cop8/cop8_nrs_ukraine1.pdf |title=National planning tool for the implementation of the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands |year=2002 |access-date=21 October 2013 |publisher=Ramsar organization}}</ref>

=== Urban areas ===
{{Main|List of cities in Ukraine}}
Ukraine has 457 cities, of which 176 are designated as oblast-class, 279 as smaller {{lang|uk-Latn|raion}}-class cities, and two as special legal status cities. There are also 886 urban-type settlements and 28,552 villages.<ref name="oblasts">{{cite web |url=http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/a002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071231154652/http://gska2.rada.gov.ua:7777/pls/z7502/a002 |archive-date=31 December 2007 |title=Regions of Ukraine and their divisions |access-date=24 December 2007 |website=] of Ukraine Official Web-site |language=uk}}</ref>

{{Largest cities
| country = Ukraine
| stat_ref = 2022 <ref>{{Cite web|url=https://ukrstat.gov.ua/druk/publicat/kat_u/2022/zb/05/zb_%D0%A1huselnist.pdf|title=Number of Present Population of Ukraine, as of January 1|website=ukrstat.gov.ua|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220704164521/https://ukrstat.gov.ua/druk/publicat/kat_u/2022/zb/05/zb_%D0%A1huselnist.pdf|archive-date=4 July 2022}}</ref>
| div_name = Region

|city_1 = Kyiv
|div_1 = Kyiv{{!}}Kyiv (city)
|pop_1 = 2,952,301
|img_1 = 2019-07-13 View to Poshtova Square and Podil.jpg

|city_2 = Kharkiv
|div_2 = Kharkiv Oblast{{!}}Kharkiv
|pop_2 = 1,421,125
|img_2 = Будинок держпромисловості 3.jpg

|city_3 = Odesa
|div_3 = Odesa Oblast{{!}}Odesa
|pop_3 = 1,010,537
|img_3 = Адміністративна споруда 02.jpg

|city_4 = Dnipro
|div_4 = Dnipropetrovsk Oblast{{!}}Dnipropetrovsk
|pop_4 = 968,502
|img_4 = Soniachnyi, Dnipro, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Ukraine - panoramio.jpg

|city_5 = Donetsk
|div_5 = Donetsk Oblast{{!}}Donetsk
|pop_5 = 901,645

|city_6 = Lviv
|div_6 = Lviv Oblast{{!}}Lviv
|pop_6 = 717,273

|city_7 = Zaporizhzhia
|div_7 = Zaporizhzhia Oblast{{!}}Zaporizhzhia
|pop_7 = 710,052

|city_8 = Kryvyi Rih
|div_8 = Dnipropetrovsk Oblast{{!}}Dnipropetrovsk
|pop_8 = 603,904

|city_9 = Sevastopol
|div_9 = Sevastopol{{!}}Sevastopol (city)
|pop_9 = 479,394

|city_10 = Mykolaiv
|div_10 = Mykolaiv Oblast{{!}}Mykolaiv
|pop_10 = 470,011

|city_11 = Mariupol
|div_11 = Donetsk Oblast{{!}}Donetsk
|pop_11 = 425,681

|city_12 = Luhansk
|div_12 = Luhansk Oblast{{!}}Luhansk
|pop_12 = 397,677

|city_13 = Vinnytsia
|div_13 = Vinnytsia Oblast{{!}}Vinnytsia
|pop_13 = 369,739

|city_14 = Simferopol
|div_14 = Autonomous Republic Crimea{{!}}Crimea
|pop_14 = 340,540

|city_15 = Makiivka
|div_15 = Donetsk Oblast{{!}}Donetsk
|pop_15 = 338,968

|city_16 = Chernihiv
|div_16 = Chernihiv Oblast{{!}}Chernihiv
|pop_16 = 282,747

|city_17 = Poltava
|div_17 = Poltava Oblast{{!}}Poltava
|pop_17 = 279,593

|city_18 = Kherson
|div_18 = Kherson Oblast{{!}}Kherson
|pop_18 = 279,131

|city_19 = Khmelnytskyi
|div_19 = Khmelnytskyi Oblast{{!}}Khmelnytskyi
|pop_19 = 274,452

|city_20 = Cherkasy
|div_20 = Cherkasy Oblast{{!}}Cherkasy
|pop_20 = 269,836
}}

== Politics ==
{{Main|Politics of Ukraine}}

Ukraine is a republic under a ] with separate ], ], and ]es.<ref name="Choudhry 2018 p16.">{{cite book |last=Choudhry |first=Sujit |title=Semi-presidentialism and Inclusive Governance in Ukraine Reflections for Constitutional Reform |publisher=International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance |publication-place=Stockholm |year=2018 |isbn=978-91-7671-154-5 |oclc=1038616889 |page=16 |url=https://www.idea.int/sites/default/files/publications/semi-presidentialism-and-inclusive-governance-in-ukraine.pdf}}</ref>

=== Constitution ===
{{main|Constitution of Ukraine }}
]
The Constitution of Ukraine was adopted and ratified at the 5th session of the ], the parliament of Ukraine, on 28 June 1996.<ref name="UNIANCD28616"/> The constitution was passed with 315 ayes out of 450 votes possible (300 ayes minimum).<ref name="UNIANCD28616">{{Cite web |date=16 June 2016 |title=Ukraine celebrating 20th anniversary of Constitution |url=https://www.unian.info/society/1389415-ukraine-celebrating-20th-anniversary-of-constitution.html |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=www.unian.info |language=en}}</ref> All other laws and other normative{{Clarify|date=March 2022}} legal acts of Ukraine must conform to the constitution. The right to amend the constitution through a special legislative procedure is vested exclusively in the parliament. The only body that may interpret the constitution and determine whether legislation conforms to it is the ]. Since 1996, the ] ] is celebrated on 28 June.<ref>, ] (30 July 2011)</ref><ref name="UW29121996"> {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303190426/http://www.ukrweekly.com/old/archive/1996/529606.shtml |date=3 March 2016 }}, ] (29 December 1996)</ref> On 7 February 2019, the Verkhovna Rada voted to amend the constitution to state Ukraine's strategic objectives as joining the ] and ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/politics/10437570-ukraine-s-parliament-backs-changes-to-constitution-confirming-ukraine-s-path-toward-eu-nato.html|title=Ukraine's parliament backs changes to Constitution confirming Ukraine's path toward EU, NATO|website=www.unian.info|language=en|access-date=7 February 2019}}</ref>

=== Government ===
{{main|Government of Ukraine}}
{{Multiple image|total_width = 280
| image1 = Volodymyr Zelensky Official portrait.jpg
| link1 = Volodymyr Zelenskyy
| caption1 = {{small|]}}<br />]
| image2 = Денис Шмыгаль (портрет) 2.jpg
| link2 = Denys Shmyhal
| caption2 = {{small|]}}<br />]
}}

The ] is elected by popular vote for a five-year term and is the formal ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article%3fart_id=235995&cat_id=32672 |title=General Articles about Ukraine |access-date=24 December 2007 |website=Government Portal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080120232454/http://www.kmu.gov.ua/control/en/publish/article%3Fart_id%3D235995%26cat_id%3D32672 |archive-date=20 January 2008 }}</ref>
Ukraine's legislative branch includes the 450-seat ] parliament, the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://portal.rada.gov.ua/ |title=Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine |access-date=24 December 2007 |website=] of Ukraine Official Web-site |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071223190549/http://portal.rada.gov.ua/ |archive-date=23 December 2007 }}</ref> The parliament is primarily responsible for the formation of the executive branch and the ], headed by the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://en.wikisource.org/Constitution_of_Ukraine,_2004 |title=Constitution of Ukraine |access-date=24 December 2007 |website=]}}</ref> The president retains the authority to nominate the ministers of foreign affairs and of defence for parliamentary approval, as well as the power to appoint the ] and the head of the ].<ref>{{cite book | author = Черноватий Л. М. | title = Практичний курс англійської мови. 4-й курс.: Підручник для ВНЗ | publisher = Нова Книга | pages = 24– | isbn = 9789663821757 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=8wbcCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA24}}</ref>

Laws, acts of the parliament and the cabinet, presidential decrees, and acts of the ] may be abrogated by the ], should they be found to violate the constitution. Other normative acts are subject to judicial review. The ] is the main body in the system of courts of general jurisdiction.
Local self-government is officially guaranteed. Local councils and city mayors are popularly elected and exercise control over local budgets. The heads of regional and district administrations are appointed by the president in accordance with the proposals of the prime minister.<ref name="House2004">{{cite book | author = Freedom House | date = 13 September 2004 | title = Nations in Transit 2004: Democratization in East Central Europe and Eurasia | publisher = Rowman & Littlefield Publishers | pages = 639– | isbn = 978-1-4617-3141-2 | oclc = 828424860 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=AsJlnVU4ipoC&pg=PA639}}</ref>

=== Courts and law enforcement ===
{{Main|Judicial system of Ukraine|Law enforcement in Ukraine}}
], seat of the ]]]
] was declared when Russia invaded in February 2022,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine's president declared martial law after Russia's attack. But what is it? |website=]|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2022/02/24/martial-law-ukraine-russia-attack/6925581001/}}</ref> and continues.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine President Submits Bill Extending Martial Law Until Late April |url=https://www.ndtv.com/world-news/ukraines-president-volodymyr-zelenskiy-submits-bill-extending-martial-law-until-late-april-2823166 |access-date=31 March 2022 |website=NDTV.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-05-22 |title=Ukrainian Parliament Extends Martial Law For 90 Days |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-martial-law-extended/31862325.html |access-date=2022-06-17 |website=] |language=en}}</ref> The courts enjoy legal, financial and constitutional freedom guaranteed by Ukrainian law since 2002. Judges are largely well protected from dismissal (except for gross misconduct). Court justices are appointed by presidential decree for an initial period of five years, after which Ukraine's Supreme Council confirms their positions for life. Although there are still problems, the system is considered to have been much improved since Ukraine's independence in 1991. The Supreme Court is regarded as an independent and impartial body, and has on several occasions ruled against the Ukrainian government. The ] ranks Ukraine 66 out of 99 countries surveyed in its annual Rule of Law Index.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://data.worldjusticeproject.org/#/index/UKR|title=WJP Rule of Law Index® 2018–2019|website=data.worldjusticeproject.org|access-date=28 April 2014|archive-date=29 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150429071718/http://data.worldjusticeproject.org/#/index/UKR|url-status=dead}}</ref>

]s in Ukraine have greater powers than in most European countries, and according to the ] "the role and functions of the Prosecutor's Office is not in accordance with ] standards".<ref>{{Cite news |last=Byrne |first=Peter |date=25 March 2010 |title=Prosecutors fail to solve biggest criminal cases |work=] |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_focus/detail/62548/ |url-status=live |access-date=19 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100331202047/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/business/bus_focus/detail/62548/ |archive-date=31 March 2010}}</ref> The ] is over 99%,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Українські суди майже не виносять виправдувальних вироків |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2013/03/8/6985181/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=] |language=uk}}</ref> equal to the conviction rate of the ], with suspects often being incarcerated for long periods before trial.<ref name=":7">{{Cite news |last=Byrne |first=Peter |date=25 March 2010 |title=Jackpot |work=] |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/62564 |access-date=31 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100329145022/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/62564 |archive-date=29 March 2010}}</ref>

] building]]

In 2010, ] formed an expert group to make recommendations on how to "clean up the current mess and adopt a law on court organization".<ref name=":7" /> One day later, he stated "We can no longer disgrace our country with such a court system."<ref name=":7" /> The criminal judicial system and the prison system of Ukraine remain quite punitive.<ref name="United States Department of State 2021">{{cite web | title=Ukraine | website=United States Department of State | date=4 November 2021 | url=https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-country-reports-on-human-rights-practices/ukraine/ | access-date=31 March 2022}}</ref>

Since 2010 court proceedings can be held in Russian by mutual consent of the parties. Citizens unable to speak ] or Russian may use their native language or the services of a translator.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Interfax-Ukraine |date=2011-12-15 |title=Constitutional Court rules Russian, other languages can be used in Ukrainian courts – Dec. 15, 2011 |url=https://archive.kyivpost.com/article/content/ukraine-politics/constitutional-court-rules-russian-other-languages-118997.html |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=]}}<br />{{Cite web |title=З подачі "Регіонів" Рада дозволила російську у судах |url=https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/06/23/4045262/ |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=] |language=uk}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://for-ua.com/ukraine/2010/07/29/113049.html |title=Російська мова стала офіційною в українських судах |website=for-ua.com}}</ref> Previously all court proceedings had to be held in Ukrainian.<ref name="United States Department of State 2021"/>

Law enforcement agencies are controlled by the ]. They consist primarily of the ] and various specialised units and agencies such as the ] and the ] services. Law enforcement agencies, particularly the police, faced criticism for their heavy handling of the 2004 ]. Many thousands of police officers were stationed throughout the capital, primarily to dissuade protesters from challenging the state's authority but also to provide a quick reaction force in case of need; most officers were armed.<ref name="NYTSBU">{{cite news |last1=Chivers |first1=C. J. |title=How Top Spies in Ukraine Changed the Nation's Path |newspaper=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/17/world/europe/how-top-spies-in-ukraine-changed-the-nations-path.html |access-date=15 June 2018 |date=17 January 2005 }}</ref>

=== Foreign relations ===

{{Main|Foreign relations of Ukraine|International membership of Ukraine|Ukraine–European Union relations|Accession of Ukraine to the European Union|Ukraine and the World Bank}}

] ], ] ], ] ] and ] ] during the 2021 International Conference in ]. In 2014, the EU signed association agreements with all three countries.]]
From 1999 to 2001, Ukraine served as a non-permanent member of the ]. Historically, Soviet Ukraine joined the United Nations in 1945 as one of the original members following a Western compromise with the Soviet Union.<ref name="U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of Public Communication, Editorial Division.2000">{{cite book |date=2000 |title=Background Notes, Ukraine |publisher=], Bureau of Public Affairs, Office of Public Communication, Editorial Division. |pages=9– |oclc=40350408 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnEiep4NgnAC&pg=PA9}}</ref> Ukraine has consistently supported peaceful, negotiated settlements to disputes. It has participated in the quadripartite talks on the conflict in Moldova and promoted a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the ] of Georgia. Ukraine also has made contributions to UN ] operations since 1992.<ref name="NATO Information Service.">{{cite book |title=NATO Review |publisher=] – NATO Information Service. |pages=49– |oclc=1387966 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Al8ux_sHwsYC&pg=PA49}}</ref>

Ukraine considers Euro-Atlantic integration its primary foreign policy objective,<ref name="result of Russia">{{cite web |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/241388.html |title=Ukraine has no alternative to Euro-Atlantic integration&nbsp;– Ukraine has no alternative to Euro-Atlantic integration – Poroshenko |work=] |date=23 December 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/241359.html |title=Ukraine abolishes its non-aligned status – law |work=] |date=23 December 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=http://www.euronews.com/2014/12/23/ukraine-s-complicated-path-to-nato-membership/ |title=Ukraine's complicated path to NATO membership |work=] |date=23 December 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/24/world/europe/ukraine-parliament-nato-vote.html |title=Ukraine Takes Step Toward Joining NATO |work=] |date=23 December 2014}}<br />{{cite web |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraine-ends-nonaligned-status-earning-quick-rebuke-from-russia-1419339226 |title=Ukraine Ends 'Nonaligned' Status, Earning Quick Rebuke From Russia |work=] |date=23 December 2014}}</ref> but in practice it has always balanced its relationship with the European Union and the United States with strong ties to Russia. The ]'s ] (PCA) with Ukraine went into force in 1998. The European Union (EU) has encouraged Ukraine to implement the PCA fully before discussions begin on an association agreement, issued at the EU Summit in December 1999 in ], recognizes Ukraine's long-term aspirations but does not discuss association.<ref name="result of Russia"/>

In 1992, Ukraine joined the then-Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (now the ] (OSCE)), and also became a member of the ]. ] are close and the country has declared interest in eventual membership.<ref name="result of Russia"/>

Ukraine is the most active member of the ] (PfP). All major political parties in Ukraine support full eventual integration into the European Union.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/general/116043.html |title=Teixeira: Ukraine's EU integration suspended, association agreement unlikely to be signed |publisher=] |date=31 August 2012 |access-date=6 September 2012}}</ref> The Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union was signed in 2014.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/209475.html |title=EU, Ukraine to sign remaining part of Association Agreement on June 27 – European Council|access-date=25 June 2016}}</ref> Ukraine long had close ties with all its neighbours, but ] rapidly deteriorated in 2014 due to the ], energy dependence and payment disputes.]}} with {{legend-inline|#3d46cd|the EU}}, established by the ], opening its path towards ].]]The ] (DCFTA), which entered into force in January 2016 following the ratification of the ], formally integrates Ukraine into the ] and the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eeas.europa.eu/sites/eeas/files/tradoc_150981.pdf |title=EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area |publisher=European Union |access-date=21 June 2021 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://eeas.europa.eu/archives/delegations/ukraine/documents/virtual_library/vademecum_en.pdf |title=The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area |publisher=European Union |access-date=21 June 2021 }}</ref> Ukraine receives further support and assistance for its ] aspirations from the International Visegrád Fund of the ] that consists of ]an ] the Czech Republic, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Patricolo |first=Claudia |date=29 July 2018 |title=Ukraine looks to revive V4 membership hopes as Slovakia takes over presidency |url=https://emerging-europe.com/news/ukraine-looks-to-revive-v4-membership-hopes-as-slovakia-takes-over-presidency/ |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=Emerging Europe |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2020, in ], Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine created the ] initiative, which aims to create further cooperation between the three historical countries of the ] and further Ukraine's integration and accession to the ] and ].<ref>{{Cite news|title=Lithuania, Poland and Ukraine Inaugurate 'Lublin Triangle'|url=https://jamestown.org/program/lithuania-poland-and-ukraine-inaugurate-lublin-triangle/|website=Jamestown}}</ref>

In 2021, the ] was formed by signing a joint memorandum between the ], ] and ]. The Association Trio is a tripartite format for enhanced cooperation, coordination, and dialogue between the three countries (that have signed the Association Agreement with the EU) with the ] on issues of common interest related to ], enhancing cooperation within the framework of the ], and committing to the prospect of joining the European Union.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Україна, Грузія та Молдова створили новий формат співпраці для спільного руху в ЄС|url=https://www.eurointegration.com.ua/news/2021/05/17/7123240/|website=www.eurointegration.com.ua}}</ref> As of 2021, Ukraine was preparing to formally apply for ] membership in 2024, in order to join the European Union in the 2030s,<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|title=У 2024 році Україна подасть заявку на вступ до ЄС|url=https://www.ukrinform.ua/rubric-polytics/2629440-u-2024-roci-ukraina-podast-zaavku-na-vstup-do-es.html|website=www.ukrinform.ua|date=29 January 2019 }}</ref> however, with the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested that the country be admitted to the EU immediately.<ref name="auto1"/> Candidate status was granted in June 2022.<ref name="BBC News"/> In recent years, Ukraine has dramatically strengthened its ties with the ].<ref name=":6" /><ref name=":5" />

=== Military ===
{{Main|Armed Forces of Ukraine}}
]]]
After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Ukraine inherited a 780,000-man military force on its territory, equipped with the third-largest ] in the world.<ref name="milgov"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Kelly |first1=Mary Louise |last2=Lonsdorf |first2=Kat |title=Why Ukraine gave up its nuclear weapons – and what that means in an invasion by Russia |url=https://www.npr.org/2022/02/21/1082124528/ukraine-russia-putin-invasion |access-date=9 November 2022 |work=NPR.org |date=21 February 2022 |language=en}}</ref> In 1992, Ukraine signed the ] in which the country agreed to give up all nuclear weapons to Russia for disposal and to join the ] as a non-nuclear weapon state. By 1996 the country had become free of nuclear weapons.<ref name="milgov">{{cite web |url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=en&part=history&sub=history |title=The history of the Armed Forces of Ukraine |access-date=5 July 2008 |publisher=]}}</ref>

Ukraine took consistent steps toward reduction of conventional weapons. It signed the ], which called for reduction of tanks, artillery, and armoured vehicles (army forces were reduced to 300,000). The country planned to convert the current ]-based military into a professional ].<ref name="wbook06">{{cite web |url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/files/white_book_eng2006.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071108143812/http://www.mil.gov.ua/files/white_book_eng2006.pdf |archive-date=8 November 2007 |title=White Book 2006 |access-date=24 December 2007 |publisher=Ministry of Defence of Ukraine}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=old|date=March 2022}} Ukraine's current military consist of 196,600 active personnel and around 900,000 reservists.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.forces.net/news/numbers-how-does-ukraines-military-stack-against-russias|title=In numbers: How does Ukraine's military stack up against Russia?|first=Alex|last=Walters|website=Forces Network|date=24 February 2022 }}</ref>

] rocket launchers in Ukrainian service, an example of ] during the ]]]

Ukraine played an increasing role in peacekeeping operations. In 2014, the Ukrainian frigate ''Hetman Sagaidachniy'' joined the European Union's counter piracy ] and was part of the EU Naval Force off the coast of ] for two months.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://eunavfor.eu/ukrainian-navy-warship-hetman-sagaidachniy-joins-eu-naval-force-counter-piracy-operation-atalanta/ |title=Ukrainian Navy Warship Hetman Sagaidachniy Joins EU Naval Force Counter Piracy Operation Atalanta |publisher=Eunavfor.eu |date=6 January 2014 |access-date=26 January 2014 |archive-date=28 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210228164241/https://eunavfor.eu/ukrainian-navy-warship-hetman-sagaidachniy-joins-eu-naval-force-counter-piracy-operation-atalanta/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> Ukrainian troops were deployed in ] as part of the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?lang=en&part=peacekeeping&sub=kfor_kosovo |title=Multinational Peacekeeping Forces in Kosovo, KFOR |access-date=24 December 2007 |publisher=Ministry of Defence of Ukraine}}</ref> In 2003–2005, a Ukrainian unit was deployed as part of the ] under Polish command.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.mil.gov.ua/index.php?part=peacekeeping&lang=en |title=Peacekeeping |access-date=2 May 2008 |publisher=Ministry of Defence of Ukraine}}</ref> Military units of other states participated in multinational military exercises with Ukrainian forces in Ukraine regularly, including ] forces.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/67094|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100522053812/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/politics/detail/67094|url-status=dead|archive-date=22 May 2010|title=Kyiv Post. Independence. Community. Trust – Politics – Parliament approves admission of military units of foreign states to Ukraine for exercises|date=22 May 2010}}</ref>

Following independence, Ukraine declared itself a neutral state.<ref name="gska2.rada.gov.ua" /> The country had a limited military partnership with Russian Federation and other CIS countries and has had a ] since 1994. In the 2000s, the government was leaning towards NATO, and deeper cooperation with the alliance was set by the NATO-Ukraine Action Plan signed in 2002. It was later agreed that the question of joining NATO should be answered by a national referendum at some point in the future.<ref name="wbook06" /> Deposed ] ] considered the then level of co-operation between ] sufficient, and was against Ukraine joining NATO. During the ], NATO declared that Ukraine would eventually become a member of NATO when it meets the criteria for accession.

As part of modernization after the beginning of the ] in 2014, junior officers were allowed to take more initiative and a ] of volunteers was established.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Collins |first=Liam |title=In 2014, the 'decrepit' Ukrainian army hit the refresh button. Eight years later, it's paying off |url=http://theconversation.com/in-2014-the-decrepit-ukrainian-army-hit-the-refresh-button-eight-years-later-its-paying-off-177881 |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=The Conversation |date=8 March 2022 |language=en}}</ref> Various defensive weapons including ] were supplied by many countries, but not fighter jets.<ref>{{Cite web |author=Al Jazeera Staff |title=What's in the new US military aid package to Ukraine? |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/17/whats-in-the-new-us-military-aid-package-to-ukraine |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=www.aljazeera.com |language=en}}</ref> During the first few weeks of the ] the military found it difficult to defend against shelling, missiles and high level bombing; but light infantry used shoulder-mounted weapons effectively to destroy tanks, armoured vehicles and low-flying aircraft.<ref>{{Cite web |date=17 March 2022 |title=Is an outright Russian military victory in Ukraine possible? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/17/is-an-outright-russian-military-victory-in-ukraine-possible |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> In August 2023, the U.S. officials estimated that up to 70,000 Ukrainian soldiers were killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite news |title=Troop Deaths and Injuries in Ukraine War Near 500,000, U.S. Officials Say |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/18/us/politics/ukraine-russia-war-casualties.html |work=The New York Times |date=18 August 2023}}</ref>

=== Administrative divisions ===
{{Main|Administrative divisions of Ukraine|Ukrainian historical regions|List of cities in Ukraine}}
{{Further|Political status of Crimea|Russian-occupied territories}}
]
The system of Ukrainian subdivisions reflects the country's status as a ] (as stated in the country's constitution) with unified legal and ] regimes for each unit.

Including ] and the ] that were annexed by the Russian Federation in 2014, Ukraine consists of 27 regions: twenty-four ]s (provinces), one ] (]), and two cities of special status—], the capital, and ]. The 24 oblasts and Crimea are subdivided into 136<ref>{{cite news |title=The council reduced the number of districts in Ukraine: 136 instead of 490|url= https://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2020/07/17/7259715/|work=] |date=17 July 2020|language=uk}}</ref> {{lang|uk-Latn|]s}} (districts) and city municipalities of regional significance, or second-level administrative units.

] are split into two categories: urban and rural. Urban populated places are split further into cities and ]s (a Soviet administrative invention), while rural populated places consist of villages and settlements (a generally used term). All cities have a certain degree of self-rule depending on their significance such as national significance (as in the case of Kyiv and Sevastopol), regional significance (within each oblast or autonomous republic) or district significance (all the rest of cities). A city's significance depends on several factors such as its population, socio-economic and historical importance and infrastructure.

{| class="wikitable" style="min-width:75%"
| colspan=2 align=center | {{Oblasts of Ukraine}}
|-
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| colspan=2 style="vertical-align:top;"|{{colbegin|colwidth=10em}}
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
* ]
{{colend}}
|-
!]
!]
|-
| style="vertical-align:top;"|
* ]
| style="vertical-align:top;"|
* ]
* ]
|}

== Economy ==
{{Main|Economy of Ukraine}}
], the ] of Ukraine]]
In 2021, agriculture was the biggest sector of the economy. Ukraine is one of the world's ]. It remains among the ] with the lowest ].<ref name="poor">{{cite web |author=Bohdan Ben |date=25 September 2020 |title=Why Is Ukraine Poor? Look To The Culture Of Poverty |url=https://voxukraine.org/en/why-is-ukraine-poor-look-to-the-culture-of-poverty/ |access-date=4 March 2021 |work=VoxUkraine}}</ref> Despite improvements, as in Moldova ] remains an obstacle to ]; the country was rated 104th out of 180 in the ] for 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-01-30 |title=CPI 2023 for Eastern Europe & Central Asia: Autocracy & weak justice… |url=https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2023-eastern-europe-central-asia-autocracy-weak-justice-systems-widespread-enabling-corruption |access-date=2024-01-31 |website=Transparency.org |language=en}}</ref> In 2021, Ukraine's ] per capita by ] was just over $14,000.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/April/weo-report?c=926,&s=NGDPD,PPPGDP,NGDPDPC,PPPPC,&sy=2019&ey=2026&ssm=0&scsm=1&scc=0&ssd=1&ssc=0&sic=0&sort=country&ds=.&br=1|title=World Economic Outlook Database, April 2021|publisher=]|website=IMF.org|access-date=17 April 2020}}</ref> Despite supplying ], the ] expected the economy to shrink considerably by 35% in 2022 due to ].<ref name="auto4">{{Cite web |date=14 March 2022 |title=Ukraine economy could shrink by up to 35% in 2022, says IMF |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2022/mar/14/ukraine-economy-shrink-2022-imf-russia-war |access-date=24 March 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> One 2022 estimate was that post-war reconstruction costs might reach half a trillion dollars.<ref>{{Cite news |title=What will it cost to rebuild Ukraine? |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/04/16/what-will-it-cost-to-rebuild-ukraine |access-date=2022-05-24 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

In 2021, the average salary in Ukraine reached its highest level at almost ]14,300 (US$525) per month.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/ukrainian-economy-in-2021-procrastination-without-innovation.html |title=Ukrainian Economy in 2021: Procrastination Without Innovation |author=Jaroslav Romanchuk |newspaper=Get the Latest Ukraine News Today – Kyivpost |date=29 December 2021 |publisher=] |access-date=27 January 2022}}</ref> About 1% of Ukrainians lived ] in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Poverty headcount ratio at national poverty lines (% of population) – Ukraine {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SI.POV.NAHC?locations=UA|access-date=17 April 2021|website=data.worldbank.org}}</ref> Unemployment in Ukraine was 4.5% in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) (national estimate) – Ukraine {{!}} Data|url=https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.UEM.TOTL.NE.ZS?locations=UA|access-date=17 April 2021|website=data.worldbank.org}}</ref> In 2019 5–15% of the Ukrainian population were categorized as middle class.<ref>{{Cite news|date=10 October 2019|title=Where Ukraine's middle class is and how it can develop|work=The Ukrainian Week|author=Lyubomyr Shavalyuk|url=https://ukrainianweek.com/Economics/236449|access-date=6 November 2020}}</ref> In 2020 Ukraine's ] was roughly 50% of its nominal GDP.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ceicdata.com/en/indicator/ukraine/government-debt--of-nominal-gdp#:~:text=In%20the%20latest%20reports%2C%20Ukraine,USD%20bn%20in%20Sep%202020.|title=Ukraine Government Debt: % of GDP|work=CEIC|access-date=17 April 2021}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=Ukraine's economy is more than just wheat and commodities {{!}} DW {{!}} 15 March 2022 |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ukraines-economy-is-more-than-just-wheat-and-commodities/a-61124847 |access-date=24 March 2022 |website=DW.COM |language=en-GB}}</ref>

In 2021 mineral commodities and light industry were important sectors.<ref name=":4"/> Ukraine produces nearly all types of transportation vehicles and ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nkau.gov.ua/nsau/catalogNEW.nsf/mainE/731F5A089D942FA8C2256FBF002DFA78?OpenDocument&Lang=E |title=Statistics of Launches of Ukrainian LV |access-date=24 December 2007 |website=www.nkau.gov.ua |publisher=] |archive-date=10 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181210200631/http://www.nkau.gov.ua/nsau/catalogNEW.nsf/mainE/731F5A089D942FA8C2256FBF002DFA78?OpenDocument&Lang=E |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.businessukraine.com.ua/missile-defence-nato-ukraine-s |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121232043/http://www.businessukraine.com.ua/missile-defence-nato-ukraine-s |archive-date=21 November 2008 |title=Missile defence, NATO: Ukraine's tough call |access-date=5 July 2008 |publisher=Business Ukraine}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://fas.org/nuke/guide/ukraine/ |title=Ukraine Special Weapons |access-date=5 July 2008 |website=The Nuclear Information Project}}</ref> The ] is the country's main trade partner, and remittances from Ukrainians working abroad are important.<ref name=":4"/>

=== Agriculture ===
]
Ukraine is among the world's top agricultural producers and exporters and is often described as the "bread basket of Europe". During the 2020/21 international wheat marketing season (July–June), it ranked as the sixth largest wheat exporter, accounting for nine percent of world wheat trade.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book |last=FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNITED NATIONS |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1291390883 |title=FOOD OUTLOOK – BIANNUAL REPORT ON GLOBAL FOOD MARKETS : november 2021. |date=2022 |publisher=FOOD & AGRICULTURE ORG |isbn=978-92-5-135248-9 |location= |oclc=1291390883}}</ref> The country is also a major global exporter of maize, barley and rapeseed. In 2020/21, it accounted for 12 percent of global trade in ] and ] and for 14 percent of world ] exports. Its trade share is even greater in the sunflower oil sector, with the country accounting for about 50 percent of world exports in 2020/2021.<ref name=":02"/>

According to the ] (FAO), further to causing the loss of lives and increasing humanitarian needs, the likely disruptions caused by the ] to Ukraine's grain and oilseed sectors, could jeopardize the food security of many countries, especially those that are highly dependent on Ukraine and Russia for their food and fertilizer imports.<ref>{{Cite web |title=FAO Information Note: The importance of Ukraine and the Russian Federation for global agricultural markets and the risks associated with the current conflict, 25 March 2022 Update |url=https://www.fao.org/3/cb9236en/cb9236en.pdf |website=Food and Agriculture Organization}}</ref> Several of these countries fall into the ] (LDC) group, while many others belong to the group of ] (LIFDCs).<ref>{{Cite web |title=LDCs at a Glance {{!}} Department of Economic and Social Affairs |url=https://www.un.org/development/desa/dpad/least-developed-country-category/ldcs-at-a-glance.html |access-date=2022-04-15 |website=www.un.org}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=FAO Country Profiles |url=https://www.fao.org/countryprofiles/lifdc/en/ |access-date=2022-04-15 |website=www.fao.org |language=en}}</ref> For example ] sourced 47 percent of its wheat imports in 2021 from Ukraine. Overall, more than 30 nations depend on Ukraine and the Russian Federation for over 30 percent of their wheat import needs, many of them in North Africa and Western and Central Asia.<ref name=":02"/>

=== Tourism ===
{{main|Tourism in Ukraine}}
], one of the ]]]
Before the ] the number of tourists visiting Ukraine was eighth in Europe, according to the ] ].<ref>{{Cite journal |date=June 2008 |title=UNWTO World Tourism Barometer |url=http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf |journal=UNWTO World Tourism Barometer |volume=6 |issue=2 |issn=1728-9246 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080819191518/http://www.tourismroi.com/Content_Attachments/27670/File_633513750035785076.pdf |archive-date=19 August 2008}}</ref> Ukraine has numerous tourist attractions: mountain ranges suitable for ], hiking and fishing; the ] coastline as a popular summer destination; ]s of different ]s; and churches, ] ruins and other architectural and park landmarks. ], ], ] and ] were Ukraine's principal tourist centres, each offering many historical landmarks and extensive ] infrastructure. The ] and ] are selections of the most important landmarks of Ukraine, chosen by Ukrainian experts and an Internet-based public vote. Tourism was the mainstay of Crimea's economy before a major fall in visitor numbers following the Russian annexation in 2014.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Ash |first=Lucy |date=8 August 2014 |title=Tourism takes a nosedive in Crimea |language=en-GB |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-28688478 |access-date=11 March 2023}}</ref>

=== Transport ===
{{main|Transport in Ukraine}}
]. ] is heavily utilised in Ukraine.]]

Many roads and bridges were destroyed, and international maritime travel was blocked by the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref name="auto4"/> Before that it was mainly through the ], from where ferries sailed regularly to ], ] and ]. The largest ferry company operating these routes was ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukrferry.com/ |title=Судоходная компания Укрферри. Морские паромные перевозки на Черном Море между Украиной, Грузией, Турцией и Болгарией |publisher=Ukrferry.com |access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref> There are over {{convert|1600|km|mi|abbr=on|sigfig=1|round=}} of ] waterways on 7 rivers, mostly on the ], ] and ]. All Ukraine's rivers freeze over in winter, limiting navigation.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.segodnya.ua/news/14338802.html|title=Киевскую дамбу может разрушить только метеорит или война — Эксперт|website=www.segodnya.ua|access-date=15 June 2022|archive-date=19 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120219112757/http://www.segodnya.ua/news/14338802.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>

] connects all major urban areas, port facilities and ]. The heaviest concentration of ] is the ] region.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Ukraine/Resources-and-power|title=Ukraine – Resources and power &#124; Britannica|website=www.britannica.com}}</ref> Although ] fell in the 1990s, Ukraine is still one of the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://permanent.access.gpo.gov/lps3997/9510uktn.htm |title=Transportation in Ukraine |access-date=22 December 2007 |website=U.S. Government Printing Office}}</ref>

], is the ] and the largest ], with its head office in ]<ref>{{Cite web |title=UIA Contacts |url=https://www.flyuia.com/ua/en/contacts |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=FlyUIA |language=en |archive-date=9 February 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170209163723/http://www.flyuia.com/eng/company/ukraine-international-airlines/Contacts.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> and its main hub at Kyiv's ]. It operated domestic and international passenger flights and cargo services to Europe, the Middle East, the United States,<ref name="auto1">{{Cite web |title=Ukraine International Airlines launches direct Kyiv–New York flights |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/content/business/ukraine-international-airlines-launches-direct-kyiv-new-york-city-flights-350928.html |access-date=24 April 2015 |website=KyivPost|date=6 June 2014 }}</ref> Canada,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Liu |first=Jim |date=29 November 2017 |title=Ukraine International plans Toronto launch in June 2018 |work=Routesonline |url=https://www.routesonline.com/news/38/airlineroute/275955/ukraine-international-plans-toronto-launch-in-june-2018/ |access-date=29 November 2017}}</ref> and Asia.

=== Energy ===
{{main|Energy in Ukraine}}
]

Energy in Ukraine is mainly from ] and ], followed by ] then oil.<ref name=":0"/> The coal industry has been disrupted by conflict.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The paradox threatening Ukraine's post-coal future |url=https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/odr/the-paradox-threatening-ukraines-post-coal-future/ |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=openDemocracy |language=en}}</ref> Most gas and oil is imported, but since 2015 ] has prioritised diversifying energy supply.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine – Countries & Regions |url=https://www.iea.org/countries/ukraine |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=IEA |language=en-GB}}</ref>

About half of ] is nuclear and a quarter coal.<ref name=":0"/> The largest ] in Europe, the ], is in Ukraine. ] were US$2.2 billion in 2019.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Fossil-Fuel Subsidies in the EU's Eastern Partner Countries : Estimates and Recent Policy Developments |url=https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/38d3a4b5-en/index.html?itemId=/content/publication/38d3a4b5-en |access-date=1 March 2022 |website=] |language=en}}</ref> Until the 2010s all of Ukraine's nuclear fuel came from Russia, but now most does not.<ref>{{cite web |title=Westinghouse and Ukraine's Energoatom Extend Long-term Nuclear Fuel Contract |url=http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/News_Room/PressReleases/pr20140411.shtm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140411173202/http://www.westinghousenuclear.com/News_Room/PressReleases/pr20140411.shtm |archive-date=11 April 2014 |access-date=15 April 2014 |website=11 April 2014 |publisher=Westinghouse}}</ref>

Some energy infrastructure was destroyed in the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lock |first=Samantha |date=27 February 2022 |title=Russia-Ukraine latest news: missile strikes on oil facilities reported as some Russian banks cut off from Swift system – live |language=en-GB |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2022/feb/27/russia-ukraine-latest-news-missile-strikes-on-oil-facilities-reported-as-some-russian-banks-cut-off-from-swift-system-live?filterKeyEvents=false&page=with%3Ablock-621aff5f8f08db56730fd45f |access-date=27 February 2022 |issn=0261-3077}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Taylor |first=Kira |date=26 February 2022 |title=Ukraine's energy system coping but risks major damage as war continues |url=https://www.euractiv.com/section/europe-s-east/news/ukraines-energy-system-coping-but-risks-major-damage-as-war-continues/ |access-date=27 February 2022 |website=www.euractiv.com |language=en-GB}}</ref> The contract to transit ] expires at the end of 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine plans to end Russian gas transit contract in 2024 – interview for Deutsche Welle {{!}} Naftogaz Ukraine |url=https://www.naftogaz.com/en/interviews/ukraine-will-not-extend-gas-transit-contract-with-russia-interview-deutsche-welle |access-date=2023-12-30 |website=www.naftogaz.com |date=24 October 2023 |language=en}}</ref>

In early 2022 Ukraine and ] decoupled their electricity grids from the ] of Russia and ]; and the ] synchronized them with ].<ref name="cbsnews-ukraine-grid">{{cite news |title=Ukraine joins European power grid, ending its dependence on Russia |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-european-power-grid-russia/ |access-date=23 March 2022 |work=] |agency=] |issue=16 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316225624/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ukraine-european-power-grid-russia/ |archive-date=16 March 2022}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.entsoe.eu/news/2022/03/16/continental-europe-successful-synchronisation-with-ukraine-and-moldova-power-systems/ |title=Continental Europe successful synchronisation with Ukraine and Moldova power systems|publisher=] |date=16 March 2022 |access-date=17 March 2022}}</ref>

=== Information technology ===
{{main|Economy of Ukraine#Information technology|Internet in Ukraine}}

Key officials may use ] as backup.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=1 March 2022 |title=Could Russia shut down the internet in Ukraine? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/01/could-russia-shut-down-the-internet-in-ukraine |access-date=15 March 2022 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}</ref> The IT industry contributed almost 5 per cent to Ukraine's GDP in 2021<ref>{{Cite web |last=Davies |first=Pascale |date=11 March 2022 |title=Ukraine's tech companies are finding ways to help those fleeing war |url=https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/03/11/from-rescue-missions-to-finding-new-jobs-ukraine-s-tech-industry-is-helping-victims-of-rus |access-date=15 March 2022 |website=euronews |language=en}}</ref> and in 2022 continued both inside and outside the country.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Journal |first=Sam Schechner {{!}} Photographs by Justyna Mielnikiewicz/MAPS for The Wall Street |date=2 March 2022 |title=Ukraine's Vital Tech Industry Carries On Amid Russian Invasion |language=en-US |work=] |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/ukraines-vital-tech-industry-carries-on-amid-russian-invasion-11646247631 |access-date=15 March 2022 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref>

== Demographics ==
{{Main|Demographics of Ukraine|Ukrainians}}

{{Pie chart
|thumb = right
|caption = <small>Source: </small>
|label1 = ]
|value1 =77.8
|color1 = cyan
|label2 = ]
|value2 =17.3
|color2 = blue
|label3 = ] and ]
|value3 = 0.8
|color3 = yellow
|label4 = ]
|value4 = 0.6
|color4 = red
|label5 = ]
|value5 =0.5
|color5 = brown
|label6 = ]
|value6 = 0.4
|color6 = green
|label7 = ]
|value7 = 0.3
|color7 = pink
|label8 = ]
|value8 = 0.3
|color8 = purple
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|color9 = black
}}

Before the ] the country had an estimated population of over 41 million people, and was the ] in Europe. It is a ], and its industrial regions in the east and southeast are the most densely populated—about 67% of its total population lives in urban areas.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ukraine_statistics.html |title=Ukraine – Statistics |access-date=7 January 2008 |website=] (UNICEF) |archive-date=3 April 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190403051640/https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ukraine_statistics.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> At that time Ukraine had a ] of {{convert|69.5|/km2|/mi2|disp=preunit|inhabitants&nbsp;|inhabitants|}}, and the overall ] at birth was 73 years (68 years for males and 77.8 years for females).<ref>{{cite web|title=Life expectancy and Healthy life expectancy, data by country|publisher=World Health Organization|url=https://apps.who.int/gho/data/node.main.688|date=2020|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref>

Following the ], Ukraine's population hit a peak of roughly 52 million in 1993. However, due to its ] exceeding its ], mass emigration, poor living conditions, and low-quality health care,<ref name=nw-20260217>{{cite news |url=https://www.newsweek.com/nolan-peterson-why-ukraine-population-shrinking-559697 |title=Why Is Ukraine's Population Shrinking? |last=Peterson |first=Nolan |newspaper=Newsweek |date=26 February 2017 |access-date=9 July 2019}}</ref><ref name=ukrstat-population>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukrstat.gov.ua/operativ/operativ2007/ds/nas_rik/nas_e/nas_rik_e.html |title=Population |publisher=State Statistics Service of Ukraine |access-date=9 July 2019}}</ref> the total population decreased by 6.6 million, or 12.8% from the same year to 2014.

According to the ], ethnic ] made up roughly 78% of the population, while ] were the largest minority, at some 17.3% of the population. Small minority populations included: ] (0.6%), ] (0.5%), ] (0.5%), ] (0.4%), ] (0.3%), ] (0.3%), ] (0.3%), ] (0.3%), ] (0.2%), ] (0.2%) and ] (0.2%).<ref name="Ethnic composition of the population of Ukraine, 2001 Census">{{cite web |url=http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/ |title=Population by ethnic nationality, 1 January, year |website=ukrcensus.gov.ua |publisher=Ukrainian Office of Statistics |access-date=17 April 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111217151026/http://2001.ukrcensus.gov.ua/eng/results/general/nationality/ |archive-date=17 December 2011}}</ref> It was also estimated that there were about 10–40,000 ] in Ukraine, who lived mostly in the south of the country, belonging to the historical ] group,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://ukrainer.net/koreans-of-ukraine-who-are-they/|title=Koreans of Ukraine. Who are they?|work=Ukrainer|date=30 October 2019|access-date=19 April 2021}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://birdinflight.com/inspiration/experience/20170718-ethnic-koreans-jung-sung-tae.html|title=Phantom Syndrome: Ethnic Koreans in Ukraine|website=Bird In Flight|author=Alina Sandulyak|date=18 July 2017|access-date=15 April 2019}}</ref> as well as about 47,600 ] (though the ] estimates a higher number of about 260,000).<ref>{{cite journal |title=Ukraine - World Directory of Minorities & Indigenous Peoples |url=https://minorityrights.org/country/ukraine/ |website=Minority Rights Group |date=19 June 2015}}</ref>

Outside the former Soviet Union, the largest source of incoming immigrants in Ukraine's post-independence period was from four Asian countries, namely China, India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.<ref name="mp">{{cite web|title=Caught Between East and West, Ukraine Struggles with Its Migration Policy|date=January 2006|publisher=Migration Policy Institute|url=https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/caught-between-east-and-west-ukraine-struggles-its-migration-policy}}</ref> In the late 2010s 1.4 million Ukrainians were ] due to the ],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://reliefweb.int/report/ukraine/national-monitoring-system-report-situation-internally-displaced-persons-march-2020|title=National Monitoring System Report on the Situation of Internally Displaced Persons – March 2020 – Ukraine|website=ReliefWeb|date=21 January 2021 }}</ref> and in early 2022, over 4.1 million fled the country in the aftermath of the ], causing the ].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Hatoum |first1=Bassam |last2=Keaten |first2=Jamey |date=30 March 2022 |title=Number of Ukraine refugees passes worst-case U.N. estimate|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-business-europe-migration-united-nations-5c10d8fed0cbcc003f64b478fd217620
|work=]|location=Medyka |access-date=30 March 2022}}</ref> Most male Ukrainian nationals aged 18 to 60 were denied exit from Ukraine.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kramer |first=Andrew |date=3 April 2024 |title=Zelensky Lowers Ukraine's Draft Age, Risking Political Backlash |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/04/03/world/europe/zelensky-ukraine-military-draft-age.html |website=New York Times}}</ref> The Ukrainian government estimates that the population in the regions controlled by Ukraine was 25 to 27 million in 2024.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Pancevski |first1=Bojan |title=One Million Are Now Dead or Injured in the Russia-Ukraine War |url=https://www.wsj.com/world/one-million-are-now-dead-or-injured-in-the-russia-ukraine-war-b09d04e5 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=17 September 2024}}</ref>

=== Language ===
{{main|Languages of Ukraine}}
{{further|Ukrainian language|Russian language in Ukraine}}

According to Ukraine's constitution, the ] is ].<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/> ] is widely spoken in the country, especially in eastern and southern Ukraine.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/><ref>{{Cite web |last=Armitage |first=Susie |date=2022-04-08 |title='Ukrainian has become a symbol': interest in language spikes amid Russia invasion |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2022/apr/08/ukrainian-langauge-interest-spikes-support-country-war |access-date=2022-04-18 |website=The Guardian |language=en|quote=Like most Ukrainians, Sophia Reshetniak, 20, is fluent in both Ukrainian and Russian.}}</ref> Most native Ukrainian speakers know Russian as a second language.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/> Russian was the ''de facto'' dominant language of the Soviet Union but Ukrainian also held official status in the republic,<ref>{{cite book|author=L.A. Grenoble|title=Language Policy in the Soviet Union|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Nn3xDTiL0PQC&pg=PA1|year=2003|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-1298-3|page=1}}</ref> and in the schools of the ], learning Ukrainian was mandatory.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN">] ''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'', ] (2007), {{ISBN|978-0-19-530546-3}}</ref>

]]]

Effective in August 2012, ] entitled any local language spoken by at least a 10&nbsp;percent minority be declared official within that area.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/yanukovych-signs-language-bill-into-law-311230.html |title=Yanukovych signs language bill into law |publisher=Kyivpost.com |date=8 August 2012 |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> Within weeks, Russian was declared a regional language of several southern and eastern ] (provinces) and cities.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/russian-spreads-like-wildfires-in-dry-ukrainian-forest-311949.html |title=Russian spreads like wildfires in dry Ukrainian forest |publisher=Kyivpost.com |date=23 August 2012 |access-date=26 January 2014}}</ref> Russian could then be used in the administrative office work and documents of those places.<ref name=NewUklang2892012>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/romanian-becomes-regional-language-in-bila-tserkva-in-zakarpattia-region-313373.html |title=Romanian becomes regional language in Bila Tserkva in Zakarpattia region |newspaper=] |agency=Interfax-Ukraine |date=24 September 2012 |access-date=20 October 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Michael Schwirtz |url=http://topics.nytimes.com/top/news/international/countriesandterritories/ukraine/index.html |title=Ukraine |date=5 July 2012 |work=The New York Times}}</ref>

In 2014, following the ], the ] voted to repeal the law on regional languages, making Ukrainian the sole state language at all levels; however, the repeal was not signed by acting ] or by President Poroshenko.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://w1.c1.rada.gov.ua/pls/zweb2/webproc4_1?pf3511=45291|script-title=uk:Проект Закону про визнання таким, що втратив чинність, Закону України "Про засади державної мовної політики"|trans-title=Draft Law on the recognition of the void Law of Ukraine "On the basic principles of State Language Policy" |language=uk |publisher=Ukrainian Parliament |access-date=12 March 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Ian Traynor |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/23/ukraine-crisis-western-nations-eu-russia |title=Western nations scramble to contain fallout from Ukraine crisis |date=24 February 2014 |work=The Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |author=Andrew Kramer |title=Ukraine Turns to Its Oligarchs for Political Help |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/world/europe/ukraine-turns-to-its-oligarchs-for-political-help.html |access-date=2 March 2014 |newspaper=New York Times |date=2 March 2014}}</ref> In 2019, the law allowing for official use of regional languages was found unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite web|date=28 February 2018|title=Constitutional Court Declares Law On Language Policy Unconstitutional|url=https://ukranews.com/en/news/550164-constitutional-court-declares-law-on-language-policy-unconstitutional|website=ukranews.com}}</ref> According to the Council of Europe, this act fails to achieve fair protection of the ] of ].<ref>{{cite web |title=New Language Requirement Raises Concerns in Ukraine |url=https://www.hrw.org/news/2022/01/19/new-language-requirement-raises-concerns-ukraine |website=] |date=19 January 2022}}</ref>

Ukrainian is the primary language used in the vast majority of Ukraine. 67% of Ukrainians speak Ukrainian as their primary language, while 30% speak Russian as their primary language.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2022 |title=Language data for Ukraine |url=https://translatorswithoutborders.org/language-data-for-ukraine/ |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=Translators without Borders |language=en-US}}</ref> In eastern and southern Ukraine, Russian is the primary language in some cities, while Ukrainian is used in rural areas. ] is spoken in ].<ref name="unian.info">{{cite news |title=Hungary plays ethnic card in all neighboring countries: experts explain "language row" with Ukraine |url=https://www.unian.info/politics/2285671-hungary-plays-ethnic-card-in-all-neighboring-countries-experts-explain-language-row-with-ukraine.html |work=] |date=7 December 2017}}</ref> There is no consensus among scholars whether ], also spoken in Zakarpattia, is a distinct language or a dialect of Ukrainian.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Moser|first=Michael A.|chapter=Rusyn: A New-Old Language In-between Nations and States|title=The Palgrave Handbook of Slavic Languages, Identities and Borders|year=2016|location=London|publisher=Palgrave Macmillan|pages=124–139|doi=10.1007/978-1-137-34839-5_7|isbn=978-1-349-57703-3|chapter-url=https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-34839-5_7|access-date=16 October 2019|archive-date=14 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114121225/https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-1-137-34839-5_7|url-status=live}}</ref> The Ukrainian government does not recognise Rusyn and ] as a distinct language and people.<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of Rusyn history and culture |date=2002 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |location=Toronto, Ont. |isbn=0802035663}}</ref>

For a large part of the Soviet era, the number of Ukrainian speakers declined from generation to generation, and by the mid-1980s, the usage of the Ukrainian language in public life had decreased significantly.<ref name=Shamshur>Shamshur, pp. 159–168</ref> Following independence, the government of Ukraine began restoring the use of the Ukrainian language in schools and government through a policy of ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.archives.gov.ua/Sections/Revolution_2004/UKL/photos.php?UKL302 |title=Світова преса про вибори в Україні-2004 (Ukrainian Elections-2004 as mirrored in the World Press) |access-date=7 January 2008 |website=Архіви України (National Archives of Ukraine) |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090108154958/http://www.archives.gov.ua/Sections/Revolution_2004/UKL/photos.php?UKL302 |archive-date=8 January 2009 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-language/criticism-of-ukraines-language-law-justified-rights-body-idUSKBN1E227K |title=Criticism of Ukraine's language law justified: rights body |work=] |date=7 December 2017}}</ref> Today, most foreign films and TV programs, including Russian ones, are subtitled or dubbed in Ukrainian.<ref>{{cite news |title=New language law could kill independent media ahead of 2019 elections |url=https://www.kyivpost.com/ukraine-politics/new-language-law-could-kill-independent-media-ahead-of-2019-elections.html |work=] |date=19 October 2018}}</ref> Ukraine's 2017 ] bars primary education in public schools in grade five and up in any language but Ukrainian.<ref>{{cite news |title=Ukrainian Language Bill Facing Barrage Of Criticism From Minorities, Foreign Capitals |url=https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-language-legislation-minority-languages-russia-hungary-romania/28753925.html |work=] |date=24 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Ukraine defends education reform as Hungary promises 'pain' |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/europe/ukraine-defends-education-reform-as-hungary-promises-pain-1.3235916 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=27 September 2017}}</ref>

=== Diaspora ===
{{main|Ukrainian diaspora }}
The Ukrainian ] comprises ] and their descendants who live outside Ukraine around the world, especially those who maintain some kind of connection to the land of their ancestors and maintain their feeling of Ukrainian national identity within their own local community.<ref>Vic Satzewich, ''The Ukrainian Diaspora'' (Routledge, 2003).</ref> The Ukrainian diaspora is found throughout numerous regions worldwide including other ] as well as in ],<ref name="Cecco 2022 u131">{{cite web | last=Cecco | first=Leyland | title=In Canada, world's second largest Ukrainian diaspora grieves invasion | website=the Guardian | date=March 3, 2022 | url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/03/canada-ukraine-diaspora-relief-efforts-russia-attack | access-date=September 3, 2023}}</ref> and other countries such as ],<ref>{{cite news |date=2022-03-15 |title=How many refugees have fled Ukraine and where are they going? |language=en-GB |publisher=] |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-60555472 |access-date=2022-03-16}}</ref> ],<ref>{{cite web |date=2022-02-25 |title='Lot of determination': Ukrainian Americans rally for their country |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/feb/25/ukrainian-americans-solidarity-ukraine |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=The Guardian}}</ref> the UK<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-61548979 | title=Ukrainian refugees are now living in the UK - so how is it going? | work=BBC News | date=28 May 2022 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.itv.com/news/2022-07-30/hosts-of-ukrainians-in-uk-to-receive-government-praise-for-generosity | title=Hosts of Ukrainians in UK to receive government praise for generosity | date=30 July 2022 }}</ref> and ].<ref>{{cite web |title=Canada has opened its doors for war-ravaged Ukrainians. Does it have the capacity? - National {{!}} Globalnews.ca |url=https://globalnews.ca/news/8678777/canada-ukraine-immigration-plan-russia-war/ |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=Global News |language=en-US}}</ref>

The 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine has led to the ] in which millions of Ukrainian civilians moved to neighbouring countries. Most crossed into Poland, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic, and others proceeded to at least temporarily settle in Hungary, Moldova, Germany, Austria, Romania and other European countries.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.unhcr.org/news/briefing/2022/3/622b257f4/unhcr-scales-displaced-war-ukraine-deploys-cash-assistance.html|author=UNHCR|date=2022-03-11|title=UNHCR scales up for those displaced by war in Ukraine, deploys cash assistance |newspaper=Unhcr }}</ref>

=== Religion ===
{{main|Religion in Ukraine}}
], a ] ],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/527 |title=Kyiv Saint Sophia Cathedral |access-date=8 July 2008 |website=United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (]) |publisher=UN}}</ref> is one of the main Christian cathedrals in Ukraine.]]
Ukraine has the world's ], after Russia.<ref>{{cite web|title=Religious Belief and National Belonging in Central and Eastern Europe|url=http://www.pewforum.org/2017/05/10/religious-belief-and-national-belonging-in-central-and-eastern-europe/|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|date=10 May 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Orthodox Christianity in the 21st Century|url=https://www.pewforum.org/2017/11/08/orthodox-christianity-in-the-21st-century/|website=Pew Research Center's Religion & Public Life Project|date=10 November 2017}}</ref> A 2021 survey conducted by the ] (KIIS) found that 82% of Ukrainians declared themselves to be religious, while 7% were ], and a further 11% found it difficult to answer the question.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://kiis.com.ua/?lang=ukr&cat=reports&id=1052&page=1| title = Press releases and reports – Religious self-identification of the population and attitude to the main Churches of Ukraine: June 2021 (kiis.com.ua)}}</ref> The level of religiosity in Ukraine was reported to be the highest in ] (91%), and the lowest in the ] (57%) and ] (56%).<ref name="Razumkov2016Page27">{{citation|date=26 May 2016|url=http://old.razumkov.org.ua/upload/Religiya_200516_A4.compressed.pdf|pages=22, 27|trans-title=Religion, Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422181327/http://old.razumkov.org.ua/upload/Religiya_200516_A4.compressed.pdf|place=Kyiv|publisher=] in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches|language=uk|access-date=7 January 2019|archive-date=22 April 2017|script-title=uk:Релігія, Церква, суспільство і держава: два роки після Майдану|url-status=dead}}</ref>

In 2019, 82% of Ukrainians were Christians; out of which 72.7% declared themselves to be ], 8.8% ], 2.3% ] and 0.9% ]. Other ]s comprised 2.3%. ], ], and ] were the religions of 0.2% of the population each. According to the KIIS study, roughly 58.3% of the Ukrainian Orthodox population were members of the ], and 25.4% were members of the ].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://socis.kiev.ua/ua/2019-01/ |title=ПРЕС-РЕЛІЗ ЗА РЕЗУЛЬТАТАМИ СОЦІОЛОГІЧНОГО ДОСЛІДЖЕННЯ «УКРАЇНА НАПЕРЕДОДНІ ПРЕЗИДЕНТСЬКИХ ВИБОРІВ 2019» |work=socis.kiev.ua |access-date=22 August 2021 |language=uk}}</ref> ] are a growing community in Ukraine, who made up 1.9% of the population in 2016,<ref name="Razumkov2016Page29">{{citation|date=26 May 2016|url=http://old.razumkov.org.ua/upload/Religiya_200516_A4.compressed.pdf|pages=22, 29|trans-title=Religion, Church, Society and State: Two Years after Maidan|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170422181327/http://old.razumkov.org.ua/upload/Religiya_200516_A4.compressed.pdf|place=Kyiv|publisher=] in collaboration with the All-Ukrainian Council of Churches (sample of 2,018 people)|language=uk|access-date=7 January 2019|archive-date=22 April 2017|script-title=uk:Релігія, Церква, суспільство і держава: два роки після Майдану|url-status=dead}}</ref> but rose to 2.2% of the population in 2018.

=== Health ===
{{main|Health in Ukraine}}{{Update section|date=March 2022}}
Ukraine's healthcare system is state subsidised and freely available to all Ukrainian citizens and registered residents. However, it is not compulsory to be treated in a state-run hospital as a number of private medical complexes do exist nationwide.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://bestofukraine.com/travel-essentials/medical-care.html |title=Medical Care in Ukraine. Health system, hospitals and clinics |publisher=BestOfUkraine.com |date=1 May 2010 |access-date=30 December 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101209112933/http://bestofukraine.com/travel-essentials/medical-care.html |archive-date=9 December 2010}}</ref> The public sector employs most healthcare professionals, with those working for private medical centres typically also retaining their state employment as they are mandated to provide care at public health facilities on a regular basis.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Romaniuk |first1=Piotr |last2=Semigina |first2=Tetyana |date=23 November 2018 |title=Ukrainian health care system and its chances for successful transition from Soviet legacies |journal=Global Health |volume=14 |issue=116 |page=116 |doi=10.1186/s12992-018-0439-5 |issn=1744-8603 |pmc=6260664 |pmid=30470237 |doi-access=free}}</ref>

], ]]]
All of Ukraine's medical service providers and hospitals are subordinate to the ], which provides oversight and scrutiny of general medical practice as well as being responsible for the day-to-day administration of the healthcare system. Despite this, standards of hygiene and patient-care have fallen.<ref>{{cite web |author=Ukraine |url=http://europe-cities.com/destinations/ukraine/health/ |title=Health in Ukraine. Healthcare system of Ukraine |publisher=Europe-cities.com |access-date=30 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016045731/http://europe-cities.com/destinations/ukraine/health/ |archive-date=16 October 2015 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ukraine faces a number of major public health issues{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} and is considered to be in a demographic crisis because of its high death rate, low birth rate, and high emigration.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://phys.org/news/2023-04-dying-ukrainian-voices-depopulation-crisis.html |title='We are dying out here': Study hears Ukrainian voices on depopulation crisis
|work=Phys.org |date=27 April 2023 |access-date=15 January 2024}}</ref> A factor contributing to the high death rate is a high ] among working-age males from preventable causes such as ] and smoking.<ref name="worldbank1">{{cite web |url=http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/julaug99/pgs3-4.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090720122016/http://www.worldbank.org/html/prddr/trans/julaug99/pgs3-4.htm |archive-date=20 July 2009 |title=What Went Wrong with Foreign Advice in Ukraine? |access-date=16 January 2008 |website=The World Bank Group}}</ref>

Active reformation of Ukraine's healthcare system was initiated right after the appointment of ] as a head of the ].<ref name="Rada Reform">{{cite web|url=https://www.unian.info/politics/2195911-ukraine-parliament-greenlights-healthcare-reform.html |title=What do you need to know about the healthcare reform in Ukraine? |date=19 October 2017 |publisher=]|access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref> Assisted by deputy Pavlo Kovtoniuk, Suprun first changed the distribution of finances in healthcare.<ref name="Kovtoniuk">{{cite web|url=http://uacrisis.org/55560-medichni-zakladi-moz#prettyPhoto |title=Ministry of Health: Medical institutions will receive guidance on how to convert to enterprises |date=24 April 2017 |publisher=] |access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref> Funds must follow the patient. General practitioners will provide basic care for patients. The patient will have the right to choose one. Emergency medical service is considered to be fully funded by the state. ] is also an important part of the healthcare reform. In addition, patients who suffer from chronic diseases, which cause a high toll of disability and mortality, are provided with free or low-price medicine.<ref name="Drugs">{{cite web|url=http://uacrisis.org/60230-need-know-healthcare-reform-ukraine |title=What do you need to know about the healthcare reform in Ukraine? |date=11 September 2017 |publisher=] |access-date=24 January 2018}}</ref>

=== Education ===
{{main|Education in Ukraine}}
{{multiple image |align=right |direction=vertical
|image1=Universidad Roja de Kiev.jpg |caption1=The ] is one of Ukraine's most important educational institutions. |width1=
|image2=Резиденція митрополитів Буковини і Далмації 5.jpg|caption2=The ] by ], 1882, now ] |width2=}}
According to the ], access to free education is granted to all citizens. Complete general secondary education is compulsory in the state schools which constitute the overwhelming majority. Free higher education in state and communal educational establishments is provided on a competitive basis.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rada.kiev.ua/const/conengl.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19970415063610/http://rada.kiev.ua/const/conengl.htm |archive-date=15 April 1997 |title=Constitution of Ukraine, Chapter 2, Article 53. Adopted at the Fifth Session of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on 28 June 1996}}</ref>

Because of the Soviet Union's emphasis on total access of education for all citizens, which continues today, the ] is an estimated 99.4%.<ref name=cia/> Since 2005, an eleven-year school programme has been replaced with a twelve-year one: primary education takes four years to complete (starting at age six), middle education (secondary) takes five years to complete; upper secondary then takes three years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/secondaryeduc_eng.html |title=General secondary education |access-date=23 December 2007 |publisher=Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071016104343/http://education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/secondaryeduc_eng.html |archive-date=16 October 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> Students in the 12th grade take Government tests, which are also referred to as school-leaving exams. These tests are later used for university admissions.

Among the oldest is also the ], founded in 1661. More higher education institutions were set up in the 19th century, beginning with universities in ] (1805), ] (1834), ] (1865) and ] (1875) and a number of professional higher education institutions, e.g.: ] (originally established as the Gymnasium of Higher Sciences in 1805), a Veterinary Institute (1873) and a ] (1885) in ], a ] in Kyiv (1898) and a Higher Mining School (1899) in ]. Rapid growth followed in the ] period. By 1988 the number of higher education institutions increased to 146 with over 850,000 students.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001465/146552e.pdf |title=Higher education in Ukraine; Monographs on higher education; 2006 |access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref>

The Ukrainian higher education system comprises higher educational establishments, ] and ] facilities under national, ] and self-governing bodies in charge of education.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/higher_educ_eng.html |title=System of Higher Education of Ukraine |access-date=23 December 2007 |publisher=Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071217073746/http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/higher_educ_eng.html |archive-date=17 December 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref> The organisation of higher education in Ukraine is built up in accordance with the structure of education of the world's higher ], as is defined by ] and the UN.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/education_eng.html |title=System of the Education of Ukraine |access-date=23 December 2007 |publisher=Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071212111804/http://www.education.gov.ua/pls/edu/docs/common/education_eng.html |archive-date=12 December 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Ukraine produces the fourth largest number of ] in Europe, while being ranked seventh in population.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Ukraine-Education |title=export.gov |website=www.export.gov |access-date=6 March 2022 |archive-date=6 March 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220306140326/https://www.export.gov/apex/article2?id=Ukraine-Education |url-status=dead }}</ref> ] is either state funded or private. Most universities provide subsidised housing for out-of-city students. It is common for libraries to supply required books for all registered students. Ukrainian universities confer two degrees: the bachelor's degree (4&nbsp;years) and the master's degree (5–6th&nbsp;year), in accordance with the ]. Historically, ] (usually 5 years) is still also granted; it was the only degree awarded by universities in Soviet times.<ref>{{Cite web |date=11 July 2016 |title=Міносвіти скасує "спеціалістів" і "кандидатів наук" |url=http://life.pravda.com.ua/society/2016/07/11/215073/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161229115208/http://life.pravda.com.ua/society/2016/07/11/215073/ |archive-date=29 December 2016 |access-date=13 December 2023 |website=life.pravda.com.ua}}</ref> Ukraine was ranked 55th in 2023 in the ].<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.wipo.int/global_innovation_index/en/2023/index.html |title=Global Innovation Index 2023, 15th Edition |date=30 October 2023 |publisher=] |isbn=9789280534320 |language= |doi=10.34667/tind.46596 |access-date= |last1=Dutta |first1=Soumitra |last2=Lanvin |first2=Bruno |last3=Wunsch-Vincent |first3=Sacha |last4=León |first4=Lorena Rivera |last5=World Intellectual Property Organization }}</ref>

=== Regional differences ===
{{See also|Demographics of Ukraine#Regional differences|Central Ukraine|Eastern Ukraine|Southern Ukraine|Western Ukraine}}
] with ] in yellow, ] in blue and ] in red]]
] is the dominant language in ] and in ], while ] is the dominant language in the cities of ] and ]. In the ] schools, learning ] was mandatory; in modern Ukraine, schools with Ukrainian as the language of instruction offer classes in Russian and in the other minority languages.<ref name="SerhyYUBoaMN"/><ref>{{Citation |url=http://norric.org/files/education-systems/Ukraine2009 |title=The Educational System of Ukraine |publisher=] |date=April 2009 |access-date=7 March 2013 |archive-date=12 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200712194304/https://norric.org/files/education-systems/Ukraine2009 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="RatingJuly12"/><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ukrnews/1243560-poll_ukrainian_language_prevails_at_home_229692.html |title=Poll: Ukrainian language prevails at home |newspaper=] |place=UA |date=7 September 2011 |access-date=7 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709143952/https://www.ukrinform.net/rubric-ukrnews/1243560-poll_ukrainian_language_prevails_at_home_229692.html |archive-date=9 July 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

On the ], on ] and ], opinion in Eastern Ukraine and Southern Ukraine tends to be the exact opposite of those in Western Ukraine; while opinions in Central Ukraine on these topics tend be less extreme.<ref name=RatingJuly12>{{cite web |url=http://ratinggroup.ua/en/research/ukraine/yazykovoy_vopros_rezultaty_poslednih_issledovaniy_2012.html |title=The language question, the results of recent research in 2012 |publisher=] |date=25 May 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://www.nybooks.com/blogs/nyrblog/2010/sep/21/whos-afraid-ukrainian-history/ |title=Who's Afraid of Ukrainian History? |author=Timothy Snyder|author-link=Timothy D. Snyder |magazine=] |date=21 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/poll-over-half-of-ukrainians-against-granting-official-status-to-russian-language-318212.html |title=Poll: Over half of Ukrainians against granting official status to Russian language |work=Kyiv Post |date=27 December 2012 |access-date=8 January 2014}}</ref><ref name=KIISS1313>{{cite web |url=http://kiis.com.ua/?lang=eng&cat=reports&id=140&page=1|script-title=uk:Ставлення населення України до постаті Йосипа Сталіна|trans-title=Attitude of the Ukrainian population to the figure of Joseph Stalin |publisher=] |date=1 March 2013 |language=uk}}</ref>

Similar historical divisions also remain evident at the level of individual social identification. Attitudes toward the most important political issue, relations with Russia, differed strongly between ], identifying more with ] and the ], and ], predominantly Russian orientated and favourable to the ], while in central and southern Ukraine, as well as ], such divisions were less important and there was less antipathy toward people from other regions.<ref name=antipathy>{{cite web |title=Ukraine. West-East: Unity in Diversity |url=http://rb.com.ua/eng/projects/omnibus/6575/ |publisher=] |access-date=8 January 2014 |date=March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108233804/http://rb.com.ua/eng/projects/omnibus/6575/ |archive-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

However, all were united by an overarching Ukrainian identity based on shared economic difficulties, showing that other attitudes are determined more by culture and politics than by demographic differences.<ref name=antipathy/><ref>{{Citation |first=Oksana |last=Malanchuk |title=Social Identification Versus Regionalism in Contemporary Ukraine |journal=Nationalities Papers |year=2005 |volume=33 |number=3 |pages=345–68 |issn=0090-5992 |doi=10.1080/00905990500193204|s2cid=154250784 }}</ref> Surveys of regional identities in Ukraine have shown that the feeling of belonging to a "Soviet identity" is strongest in the ] (about 40%) and the Crimea (about 30%).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taraskuzio.net/Comparative%20Politics_files/SovietCulture_Conspiracy_Yanukovych.pdf |title=Soviet conspiracy theories and political culture in Ukraine: Understanding Viktor Yanukovych and the Party of Region |website=taraskuzio.net |author=Taras Kuzio |author-link=Taras Kuzio |date=23 August 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140516205435/http://www.taraskuzio.net/Comparative%20Politics_files/SovietCulture_Conspiracy_Yanukovych.pdf |archive-date=16 May 2014}}</ref>

During ] voters of Western and Central Ukrainian ] (provinces) vote mostly for parties (], ])<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vnd2012/WP406?PT001F01=900&pf7171=52 |publisher=Central Election Commission of Ukraine |script-title=uk:Вибори народних депутатів України 2012 |trans-title=The Elections of People's Deputies of Ukraine 2012 |language=uk |date=28 November 2012 |access-date=8 March 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121016140034/http://www.cvk.gov.ua/pls/vnd2012/WP406?PT001F01=900&pf7171=52 |archive-date=16 October 2012 |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=30 August 2012 |title=CEC substitutes Tymoshenko, Lutsenko in voting papers |url=http://en.for-ua.com/news/2012/08/30/111349.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813233711/http://en.for-ua.com/news/2012/08/30/111349.html |archive-date=13 August 2014 |url-status=dead |access-date=6 November 2015}}</ref> and presidential candidates (], ]) with a ] and state reform ], while voters in Southern and Eastern oblasts vote for parties (], ]) and presidential candidates (]) with a ] and ] platform.<ref name= EWparties>{{Citation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H23Pv4Ik3vMC&pg=PA396|title=Communist and Post-Communist Parties in Europe |first1=Uwe |last1=Backes | author1-link = Uwe Backes |first2=Patrick |last2=Moreau | author2-link = |publisher=] |year=2008 |isbn=978-3-525-36912-8 |page=396}}</ref><ref name=Umland>{{Citation |url=http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andreas-umland/ukraine-right-wing-politics-is-genie-out-of-bottle |title=Ukraine right-wing politics: is the genie out of the bottle? |publisher=] |date=3 January 2011 |access-date=8 March 2013 |archive-date=14 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171014083516/http://www.opendemocracy.net/od-russia/andreas-umland/ukraine-right-wing-politics-is-genie-out-of-bottle |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.jamestown.org/single/?no_cache=1&tx_ttnews%5Btt_news%5D=39981 |title=Eight Reasons Why Ukraine's Party of Regions Will Win the 2012 Elections |first=Taras |last=Kuzio |newspaper=Jamestown | author-link = Taras Kuzio |publisher=] |date=17 October 2012}}</ref><ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.taraskuzio.net/media20_files/8.pdf |title=UKRAINE: Yushchenko needs Tymoshenko as ally again |first=Taras |last=Kuzio |author-link=Taras Kuzio |publisher=] |date=5 October 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130515074305/http://www.taraskuzio.net/media20_files/8.pdf |archive-date=15 May 2013}}</ref> However, this geographical division is decreasing.<ref>{{cite web |last=Sonia |first=Koshkina |date=15 November 2012 |title=Ukraine's Party of Regions: A pyrrhic victory |url=http://www.euractiv.com/specialreport-eu-ukraine-relatio/ukraines-party-regions-pyrrhic-v-analysis-516103 |website=EurActiv}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Rachkevych |first=Mark |date=11 February 2010 |title=Election winner lacks strong voter mandate |work=] |url=http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59340/ |access-date=13 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100217083456/http://www.kyivpost.com/news/nation/detail/59340/ |archive-date=17 February 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Ostaptschuk |first=Markian |date=30 October 2012 |title=Shake-up in Ukraine |work=] |url=https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-vote-ushers-in-new-constellation-of-power/a-16341696 |access-date=13 December 2023}}</ref>

== Culture ==
{{Main|Ukrainian culture}}
]. The design motifs on pysanky date back to early Slavic cultures.]]
].]]
Ukrainian customs are heavily influenced by ], the dominant religion in the country.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.derzhkomrelig.gov.ua/info_zvit_2003.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041204115821/http://www.derzhkomrelig.gov.ua/info_zvit_2003.html |archive-date=4 December 2004 |title=State Department of Ukraine on Religious |access-date=27 January 2008 |website=2003 Statistical report |url-status=dead}}</ref> Gender roles also tend to be more traditional, and grandparents play a greater role in bringing up children, than in the West.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Price of Freedom|last=Lysenko|first=Tatiana|publisher=Lulu Publishing Services|year=2014|isbn=978-1483405759|page=4}}</ref> The culture of Ukraine has also been influenced by its eastern and western neighbours, reflected in its ], music and art.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ukraine.com/culture/|title=Culture in Ukraine {{!}} By Ukraine Channel|website=ukraine.com|access-date=24 March 2018}}</ref>

The Communist era had quite a strong effect on the art and writing of Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080418030322/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30078/Ukraine |archive-date=18 April 2008 |title=Interwar Soviet Ukraine |access-date=12 September 2007 |website=] |quote=In all, some four-fifths of the Ukrainian cultural elite was repressed or perished in the course of the 1930s}}</ref> In 1932, Stalin made ] state policy in the Soviet Union when he promulgated the decree "On the Reconstruction of Literary and Art Organisations". This greatly stifled creativity. During the 1980s ] (openness) was introduced and Soviet artists and writers again became free to express themselves as they wanted.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037405 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071218133116/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-9037405 |archive-date=18 December 2007 |title=Gorbachev, Mikhail |access-date=30 July 2008 |publisher=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required) |quote=Under his new policy of glasnost ("openness"), a major cultural thaw took place: freedoms of expression and of information were significantly expanded; the press and broadcasting were allowed unprecedented candour in their reportage and criticism; and the country's legacy of Stalinist totalitarian rule was eventually completely repudiated by the government |url-status=dead}}</ref>

{{As of|2023}}, UNESCO inscribed 8 properties in Ukraine on the ]. Ukraine is also known for its decorative and folk traditions such as ], ], and ].<ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO – Petrykivka decorative painting as a phenomenon of the Ukrainian ornamental folk art |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/petrykivka-decorative-painting-as-a-phenomenon-of-the-ukrainian-ornamental-folk-art-00893 |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=ich.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO – Tradition of Kosiv painted ceramics |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/RL/tradition-of-kosiv-painted-ceramics-01456 |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=ich.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=UNESCO – Cossack's songs of Dnipropetrovsk Region |url=https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/cossacks-songs-of-dnipropetrovsk-region-01194 |access-date=4 March 2022 |website=ich.unesco.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Centre |first=UNESCO World Heritage |title=Ukraine – UNESCO World Heritage Convention |url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/statesparties/ua |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=UNESCO World Heritage Centre |language=en}}</ref> Between February 2022 and March 2023, UNESCO verified the damage to 247 sites, including 107 ]s, 89 buildings of artistic or historical interest, 19 monuments and 12 libraries.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Damaged cultural sites in Ukraine verified by UNESCO |url=https://www.unesco.org/en/articles/damaged-cultural-sites-ukraine-verified-unesco |access-date=6 April 2023 |website=UNESCO}}</ref> Since January 2023, the ] of ] has been inscribed on the ].<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-02-02 |title=Unesco adds Ukrainian city of Odesa to World Heritage List of endangered sites |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2023/02/02/ukrainian-city-of-odesa-added-to-unescos-world-heritage-list |access-date=2023-04-06 |website=The Art Newspaper – International art news and events}}</ref>

The tradition of the ]s, known as ], has long roots in Ukraine. These eggs were drawn on with wax to create a pattern; then, the dye was applied to give the eggs their pleasant colours, the dye did not affect the previously wax-coated parts of the egg. After the entire egg was dyed, the wax was removed leaving only the colourful pattern. This tradition is thousands of years old, and precedes the arrival of Christianity to Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/index.html |title=Pysanky – Ukrainian Easter Eggs |access-date=28 July 2008 |publisher=] |archive-date=25 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125004425/http://www.cs.unc.edu/~yakowenk/pysanky/index.html |url-status=dead }}</ref> In the city of ] near the foothills of the ], the ] was built in 2000 and won a nomination as the monument of modern Ukraine in 2007, part of the ] action.

Since 2012, the Ministry of Culture of Ukraine has formed the ],<ref>{{Cite web |title=Про затвердження Порядку ведення Національного переліку елементів нематеріальної культурної спадщини України |url=https://zakon.rada.gov.ua/go/z0020-18 |accessdate=2023-02-01 |website=Офіційний вебпортал парламенту України |language=uk}}</ref> which consists of 103 items as of July 2024.<ref name="mcip.gov.ua"/>

===Libraries===

The ], is the main academic library and main scientific information centre in Ukraine.

During the ] the Russians bombed the Maksymovych Scientific Library of the Taras Shevchenko Kyiv National University, Vernadsky National Library of Ukraine, the National Scientific Medical Library of Ukraine and the Kyiv city youth library.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Marche |first=Stephen |date=4 December 2022 |title='Our mission is crucial': meet the warrior librarians of Ukraine |language=en-GB |work=] |url=https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/dec/04/our-mission-is-crucial-meet-the-warrior-librarians-of-ukraine |access-date=11 March 2023 |issn=0029-7712}}</ref>

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Ukrainian literature}}

Ukrainian literature has origins in ] writings, which was used as a ] and ] following ] in the 10th and 11th centuries.<ref name=ualit>{{cite encyclopedia|url=https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/612921/Ukraine/30128/Daily-life-and-social-customs#toc275898 |title=Ukraine – Cultural Life – The Arts – Literature |access-date=8 January 2014 |encyclopedia=]}}</ref><ref name=ualitmsn>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573617_4/Ukraine.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080406035927/http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761573617_4/Ukraine.html |archive-date=6 April 2008 |title=Ukraine – Literature |access-date=3 July 2008 |encyclopedia=] |url-status=dead}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=December 2022}}{{Efn|Such writings were also the base for Russian and Belarusian literature.}} Other writings from the time include ]s, the most significant of which was the '']''.{{citation needed|date=December 2022}} Literary activity faced a sudden decline after the ], before seeing a revival beginning in the 14th&nbsp;century, and was advanced in the 16th&nbsp;century with the invention of the ].<ref name=ualit/>

{{multiple image
|total_width=300
|width1=1517|height1=2006|image1=Т. Г. Шевченко. Квітень 1859.jpg|caption1=]
|width2=560|height2=798|image2=Lesya Ukrainka portrait.jpg|caption2=], one of the foremost Ukrainian women writers
}}

The ] established an independent society and popularized a ] of ], which marked a high point of Ukrainian ].<ref name=ualitmsn/>{{failed verification|date=December 2022}} These advances were then set back in the 17th and early 18th&nbsp;centuries, as many Ukrainian authors wrote in Russian or Polish. Nonetheless, by the late 18th&nbsp;century, the modern literary Ukrainian language finally emerged.<ref name=ualit/> In 1798, the modern era of the Ukrainian literary tradition began with ]'s publication of ] in the Ukrainian vernacular.<ref>{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=4 July 2023 |title=Ukrainian literature |url=https://www.britannica.com/art/Ukrainian-literature |access-date=11 March 2023 |website=] Online |language=en}}</ref>

By the 1830s, a Ukrainian ] began to develop, and the nation's most renowned cultural figure, romanticist poet-painter ] emerged. Whereas Ivan Kotliarevsky is considered to be the father of literature in the Ukrainian vernacular; Shevchenko is the father of a national revival.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/display.asp?AddButton=pages\L\I\Literature.htm |title=Literature |author=Danylo Husar Sruk |access-date=17 January 2008 |website=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>

Then, in 1863, the use of the Ukrainian language in print was effectively ] by the Russian Empire.<ref name=censor/> This severely curtailed literary activity in the area, and Ukrainian writers were forced to either publish their works in Russian or release them in Austrian controlled ]. The ban was never officially lifted, but it became obsolete after the revolution and the Bolsheviks' coming to power.<ref name=ualitmsn/>

Ukrainian literature continued to flourish in the early Soviet years when nearly all literary trends were approved. These policies faced a steep decline in the 1930s, when prominent representatives as well as many others were killed by the ] during the ]. In general around 223 writers were repressed by what was known as the ].<ref>{{cite web |author=Yuriy Lavrinenko |url=http://fmm51.org.ua/html_books/lavrinenko_rozstriliane_vidrodzhennia.htm|script-title=uk:Розстріляне відродження: Антологія 1917–1933|trans-title=The Executed Renaissance: Anthology 1917–1933 |language=uk |location=Kyiv |publisher=Smoloskyl |date=2004 |archive-date=13 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101213085603/http://fmm51.org.ua/html_books/lavrinenko_rozstriliane_vidrodzhennia.htm}}</ref> These repressions were part of Stalin's implemented policy of ]. The doctrine did not necessarily repress the use of the Ukrainian language, but it required that writers follow a certain style in their works.

Literary freedom grew in the late 1980s and early 1990s alongside the decline and collapse of the USSR and the reestablishment of Ukrainian independence in 1991.<ref name=ualit/>

=== Architecture ===
{{Main|Ukrainian architecture}}
] in ], the foremost example of ] and one of Ukraine's most recognizable landmarks]]

Ukrainian architecture includes the motifs and styles that are found in structures built in modern Ukraine, and by ] worldwide. These include initial roots which were established in the state of ]. Following the ], Ukrainian architecture has been influenced by ]. After the ], it continued to develop in the ].<ref name="KatchanovskiKohutNebesio2013">{{cite book | author1 = ] | author2 = Zenon E. Kohut | author3 = Bohdan Y. Nebesio | author4 = Myroslav Yurkevich | date = 11 July 2013 | title = Historical Dictionary of Ukraine | edition = 2 | publisher = Scarecrow Press | pages = 29– | isbn = 978-0-8108-7847-1 | oclc = 851157266 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=-h6r57lDC4QC&pg=PA29}}</ref>

After the union with the ], architecture in Ukraine began to develop in different directions, with many structures in the larger eastern, Russian-ruled area built in the styles of ] of that period, whilst the western region of ] developed under ] and ]. Ukrainian national motifs would eventually be used during the period of the ] and in modern independent Ukraine.<ref name="KatchanovskiKohutNebesio2013"/> However, much of the contemporary architectural skyline of Ukraine is dominated by Soviet-style ]s, or low-cost apartment buildings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/228/993 |title=The Khrushchovkas |first=Serhiy |last=Kharchenko |website=The Ukrainian Observer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206132350/http://www.ukraine-observer.com/articles/228/993 |archive-date=6 February 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Weaving and embroidery ===
], ]]]

Artisan ] play an important role in Ukrainian culture,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://ua-travelling.com/en/article/ukrainian-clothes |title=Ukrainian folk dress. Traditional clothes of Ukraine |publisher=Ua-travelling.com |access-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130725153343/http://ua-travelling.com/en/article/ukrainian-clothes |archive-date=25 July 2013 }}</ref> especially in ]. ], ] and lace-making are used in traditional ] and in traditional celebrations. Ukrainian embroidery varies depending on the region of origin<ref>''"Podvyzhnytsi narodnoho mystetstva", Kyiv 2003 and 2005, by Yevheniya Shudra, Welcome to Ukraine Magazine''</ref> and the designs have a long history of motifs, compositions, choice of colours and types of stitches.<ref name=museum>{{cite web |title=Traditional Ukrainian Embroidery |url=http://www.umacleveland.org/traditional-ukrainian-embroidery/ |publisher=Ukrainian Museum-Archives |access-date=8 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140108231405/http://www.umacleveland.org/traditional-ukrainian-embroidery/ |archive-date=8 January 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Use of colour is very important and has roots in ]. Embroidery motifs found in different parts of Ukraine are preserved in the ] Museum in ].

National dress is woven and highly decorated. Weaving with handmade looms is still practised in the village of Krupove, situated in ]. The village is the birthplace of two internationally recognized personalities in the scene of national crafts fabrication: Nina Myhailivna<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rv.gov.ua/sitenew/main/ua/1160.htm|script-title=uk:Рівненська обласна державна адміністрація – Обласний центр народної творчості|trans-title=Rivne Regional State Administration – The Regional Centre for Folk Art|language=uk|publisher=Rv.gov.ua|access-date=30 December 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110126042547/http://www.rv.gov.ua/sitenew/main/ua/1160.htm|archive-date=26 January 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref> and Uliana Petrivna.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://storinka-m.kiev.ua/article.php?id=478 |title=ПІСНІ ТА ВИШИВКИ УЛЯНИ КОТ – Мистецька сторінка |publisher=Storinka-m.kiev.ua |access-date=30 December 2010}}</ref>

=== Music ===
{{Main|Music of Ukraine}}
] playing a ]]]
] is widely considered to be the father of Ukrainian classical music.<ref name="Risch 2011 p. 44">{{cite book | last=Risch | first=W.J. | title=The Ukrainian West: Culture and the Fate of Empire in Soviet Lviv | publisher=Harvard University Press | series=Harvard historical studies | year=2011 | isbn=978-0-674-06126-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zo9t6NS-YCwC&pg=PA44 | access-date=9 March 2022 | page=44}}</ref>]]

Music is a major part of Ukrainian culture, with a long history and many influences. From traditional ], to ] and ], Ukraine has produced several internationally recognised musicians including ], ] and ]. Elements from traditional Ukrainian folk music made their way into Western music and even into modern ]. Ukrainian music sometimes presents a perplexing mix of exotic melismatic singing with chordal harmony. The most striking general characteristic of authentic ethnic Ukrainian folk music is the wide use of minor modes or keys which incorporate augmented second intervals.<ref name="Sonevytsky 2019 p.">{{cite book | last=Sonevytsky | first=M. | title=Wild Music: Sound and Sovereignty in Ukraine | publisher=Wesleyan University Press | series=Music / Culture | year=2019 | isbn=978-0-8195-7915-7 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=um6rDwAAQBAJ | access-date=9 March 2022 | page=intro}}</ref>

During the Baroque period, music had a place of considerable importance in the curriculum of the ]. Much of the nobility was well versed in music with many Ukrainian Cossack leaders such as (], ], ], ]) being accomplished players of the ], ] or ].

The first dedicated musical academy was set up in ] in 1738 and students were taught to sing and play violin and bandura from manuscripts. As a result, many of the earliest composers and performers within the Russian empire were ethnically Ukrainian, having been born or educated in Hlukhiv or having been closely associated with this music school.<ref name="Struk 1993 p. 1461">{{cite book | last=Struk | first=D.H. | title=Encyclopedia of Ukraine: Volume III: L-Pf | publisher=University of Toronto Press, Scholarly Publishing Division | series=Heritage | year=1993 | isbn=978-1-4426-5125-8 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IkZEDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT1461 | access-date=9 March 2022 | page=1461}}</ref> Ukrainian classical music differs considerably depending on whether the composer was of Ukrainian ethnicity living in Ukraine, a composer of non-Ukrainian ethnicity who was a citizen of Ukraine, or part of the ].<ref name="Ukrainian people 2017">{{cite web | title=Traditional Ukrainian songs and music | website=Ukrainian people | date=16 May 2017 | url=https://ukrainianpeople.us/traditional-ukrainian-songs-and-music/ | language=uk | access-date=9 March 2022}}</ref>

Since the mid-1960s, Western-influenced pop music has been growing in popularity in Ukraine. Folk singer and harmonium player ] is prominent. Ukrainian pop and folk music arose with the international popularity of groups and performers like ], ], ], ] and ].

=== Media ===
{{Main|Media of Ukraine}}
The Ukrainian legal framework on media freedom is deemed "among the most progressive in eastern Europe", although implementation has been uneven.<ref name="FH">], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181116115122/https://freedomhouse.org/report/freedom-press/2015/ukraine |date=16 November 2018 }} report</ref>{{update inline|date=December 2022}} The constitution and laws provide for ]<ref>{{Cite web |title=Ukraine: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report |url=https://freedomhouse.org/country/ukraine/freedom-world/2021 |access-date=27 March 2022 |website=Freedom House |language=en}}</ref> and ]. The main regulatory authority for the broadcast media is the ] (NTRBCU), tasked with licensing media outlets and ensure their compliance with the law.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nrada.gov.ua/en/about/|title=National Council|website=Національна рада України з питань телебачення і радіомовлення|access-date=9 March 2022|archive-date=9 March 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220309090341/https://www.nrada.gov.ua/en/about/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

] dominates the media sector in Ukraine: National ] '']'', '']'', tabloids, such as '']'' or '']'', and television and radio are largely based there,{{Citation needed|date=March 2022}} although ] is also a significant national media centre. The National News Agency of Ukraine, ] was founded here in 1918. ] started its broadcasts in 1992.<ref>{{Cite web |title=BBCUkrainian.com {{!}} Про нас {{!}} Бі-Бі-Сі – зрозуміти світ. |url=https://www.bbc.com/ukrainian/aboutus/story/2003/08/030818_london_office |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=www.bbc.com}}</ref> {{As of|2022}} 75% of the population use the internet, and social media is widely used by government and people.<ref>{{Cite news |date=26 March 2022 |title=The invasion of Ukraine is not the first social media war, but it is the most viral |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/europe/2022/03/26/the-invasion-of-ukraine-is-not-the-first-social-media-war-but-it-is-the-most-viral |access-date=27 March 2022 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref>

On 10 March 2024, creators of a documentary film '']'' were awarded with the ] in the category "Best Documentary Feature Film", the first Oscar in Ukraine's history.<ref>{{cite web |title='20 Days in Mariupol' wins best documentary Oscar, a first for AP and PBS' 'Frontline' |url=https://apnews.com/article/best-documentary-2024-oscars-61eadff6af5bb91d53737776c1a60ff8 |website=] |date=11 March 2024}}</ref>

=== Sport ===
{{Main|Sport in Ukraine}}
Ukraine greatly benefited from the Soviet emphasis on ]. These policies left Ukraine with hundreds of stadia, swimming pools, gymnasia and many other athletic facilities.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30127/Ukraine |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080115053121/https://www.britannica.com/eb/article-30127/Ukraine |archive-date=15 January 2008 |title=Ukraine – Sports and recreation |access-date=12 January 2008 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica (fee required) |url-status=dead}}</ref> The most popular sport is ]. The top professional league is the ] ("premier league").

Many Ukrainians also played for the ], most notably ] winners ] and ]. This award was only presented to one Ukrainian after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ]. The national team made its debut in the ], and reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champions, ].

Ukrainian ] are amongst the best in the world.<ref>{{cite news |title=Boxing Lessons learned from Dion's Ukraine Visit |url=https://www.vivafitness.com.au/boxing-lessons-learned-dions-ukraine-visit/ |work=Viva Fitness |date=14 September 2013 }}</ref> Since becoming the undisputed cruiserweight champion in 2018, ] has also gone on to win the unified WBA (Super), IBF, WBO and IBO heavyweight titles. This feat made him one of only three boxers to have unified the cruiserweight world titles and become a world heavyweight champion.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Douglas|first=Steve|date=25 September 2021|title=Usyk ends Joshua's reign as heavyweight champ|url=https://apnews.com/article/sports-boxing-anthony-joshua-wladimir-klitschko-evander-holyfield-3b9a7b202d5de124e4c2fee4298df8d4|url-status=live|access-date=25 September 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211022091409/https://apnews.com/article/sports-boxing-anthony-joshua-wladimir-klitschko-evander-holyfield-3b9a7b202d5de124e4c2fee4298df8d4|archive-date=22 October 2021|publisher=]}}</ref> The brothers ] and ] are former ] world champions who held multiple world titles throughout their careers. Also hailing from Ukraine is ], a ] and ] gold medalist. He is the ] ] world champion who ties the record for winning a world title in the fewest professional fights; three. As of September 2018, he is ranked as the world's best active boxer, ], by ].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.espn.com/boxing/story/_/id/23519498/espn-boxing-pound-pound-rankings-vasiliy-lomachenko-no-1|title=Pound-for-pound rankings: Vasiliy Lomachenko still No. 1|work=ESPN.com|access-date=18 May 2018}}</ref>

] held the record in the ] from 1993 to 2014; with great strength, speed and gymnastic abilities, he was voted the world's best athlete on several occasions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.olympic.org/mr-sergey-bubka |access-date=27 May 2010 |title=Mr. Sergey BUBKA |author=International Olympic Committee |website=Official website of the Olympic Movement |quote=...&nbsp;voted world's best athlete on several occasions.}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/aoy.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511100602/http://www.trackandfieldnews.com/archive/aoy.html |archive-date=11 May 2011 |title=Track and Field Athlete of the Year |publisher=Trackandfieldnews.com |access-date=30 January 2011}}</ref>

] has gained popularity in Ukraine. In 2011, Ukraine was granted a right to organize ]. Two years later the ] finished sixth in ] and qualified to ] for the first time in its history. ] participant ] is the strongest professional basketball club in Ukraine.

] is a popular sport in Ukraine. ] is the former world champion. There are about 85 ] and 198 ] in Ukraine. ] is played throughout Ukraine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rlef.eu.com/news/article/1480/legion-xiii-dominate-ukrainian-season |title=Legion XIII dominate Ukrainian season |publisher=RLEF |date=23 November 2017 |access-date=23 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171201182718/http://www.rlef.eu.com/news/article/1480/legion-xiii-dominate-ukrainian-season |archive-date=1 December 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref><!-- Adding other sports – consider adding any expansion to the "main" page ] -->

=== Cuisine ===
{{Main|Ukrainian cuisine}}
] with ] sour cream]]
The traditional Ukrainian diet includes chicken, pork, beef, fish and mushrooms. Ukrainians also tend to eat a lot of potatoes; grains; and fresh, boiled or pickled vegetables. Popular traditional dishes ''{{lang|uk-Latn|]}}'' (boiled dumplings with mushrooms, potatoes, ], ], cherries or berries), '']'' (pancakes with quark, poppy seeds, mushrooms, ] or meat), '']'' (cabbage soup that usually consists of meat, potatoes, carrots, onions, millet, tomato paste, spices and fresh herbs), red ] (soup made of beets, cabbage and mushrooms or meat) and {{lang|uk-Latn|]}} (stuffed cabbage rolls filled with rice, carrots, onion and minced meat).<ref>{{Cite news |date=2022-03-05 |title=Ukraine has a glorious cuisine that is all its own |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/culture/2022/03/05/ukraine-has-a-glorious-cuisine-that-is-all-its-own |access-date=2022-04-14 |issn=0013-0613}}</ref> Among traditional baked goods are decorated ]s and ].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.cchm.ca/index.php/articles/breads|title=CCHM – Breads|website=www.cchm.ca|access-date=15 March 2022}}</ref> Ukrainian specialties also include ] and ].

Ukrainians drink ], juices, milk, ], mineral water, tea and coffee, beer, wine and {{lang|uk-Latn|]}}.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.encyclopediaofukraine.com/pages/T/R/Traditionalfoods.htm |title=Traditional Foods |access-date=10 August 2007 |last=Stechishin |first=Savella |publisher=Encyclopedia of Ukraine}}</ref>

== See also ==
{{portal |Ukraine}}
*]

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em|refs=<ref name="European Commission Trade Ukraine">{{Cite web|url=https://ec.europa.eu/trade/policy/countries-and-regions/countries/ukraine/|title=Ukraine – Trade – European Commission|website=ec.europa.eu|date=2 May 2023 }}</ref>}}

== Print sources ==

=== Reference books ===
{{refbegin}}
* ''Encyclopedia of Ukraine'' (], 1984–1993) 5 vol; , from Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies
* '''' ed by Volodymyr E. KubijovyC; University of Toronto Press. 1963; 1188pp
{{refend}}

=== Recent (since 1991) ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
* Aslund, Anders, and Michael McFaul. ''Revolution in Orange: The Origins of Ukraine's Democratic Breakthrough'' (2006)
* Birch, Sarah. ''Elections and Democratization in Ukraine'' Macmillan, 2000
* Edwards Mike: "Ukraine&nbsp;– Running on empty" ] March 1993
* Ivan Katchanovski: ''Cleft Countries: Regional Political Divisions and Cultures in Post-Soviet Ukraine and Moldova'', Ibidem-Verlag, 2006, {{ISBN|978-3-89821-558-9}}
* Kuzio, Taras: ''Contemporary Ukraine: Dynamics of Post-Soviet Transformation'', M.E. Sharpe, 1998, {{ISBN|0-7656-0224-5}}
* Kuzio, Taras. ''Ukraine: State and Nation Building'', Routledge, 1998
* Shamshur O. V., Ishevskaya T. I., ''Multilingual education as a factor of inter-ethnic relations: the case of the Ukraine'', in ''Language Education for Intercultural Communication'', by D. E. Ager, George Muskens, Sue Wright, Multilingual Matters, 1993, {{ISBN|1-85359-204-8}}
* {{cite book |title=Ukraine's Economic Reform: Obstacles, Errors, Lessons |last=Shen |first=Raphael |publisher=Praeger/Greenwood |isbn=978-0-275-95240-2 |year=1996}}
* Whitmore, Sarah. ''State Building in Ukraine: The Ukrainian Parliament, 1990–2003'' Routledge, 2004
* ], ''Ukraine's Orange Revolution'' (2005)
* Wilson, Andrew, ''The Ukrainians: Unexpected Nation,'' 2nd ed. 2002;
* Wilson, Andrew, ''Ukrainian Nationalism in the 1990s: A Minority Faith'', ], {{ISBN|0-521-57457-9}}
* Zon, Hans van. ''The Political Economy of Independent Ukraine''. 2000
{{refend}}

=== History ===
{{refbegin|30em}}
*
* Bilinsky, Yaroslav ''The Second Soviet Republic: The Ukraine after World War II'' (], 1964) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707080141/https://www.questia.com/read/98757892/the-second-soviet-republic-the-ukraine-after-world |date=7 July 2020 }}
* Hrushevsky, Michael. ''A History of Ukraine'' (1986)
* Katchanovski Ivan; Kohut, Zenon E.; Nebesio, Bohdan Y.; and Yurkevich, Myroslav. ''Historical Dictionary of Ukraine.'' Second Edition. Scarecrow Press, 2013. 968 pp.
* Kononenko, Konstantyn. ''Ukraine and Russia: A History of the Economic Relations between Ukraine and Russia, 1654–1917'' (Marquette University Press 1958) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707131740/https://www.questia.com/read/30412054/ukraine-and-russia-a-history-of-the-economic-relations |date=7 July 2020 }}
* Luckyj, George S. ''Towards an Intellectual History of Ukraine: An Anthology of Ukrainian Thought from 1710 to 1995.'' (1996)
* ], ''A History of Ukraine''. ], 1996 {{ISBN|0-8020-7820-6}}
* Reid, Anna. ''Borderland: A Journey Through the History of Ukraine'' (2003)
* ]. ''Ukraine: A History'', 1st edition. Toronto: ], 1988. {{ISBN|0-8020-8390-0}}.
* Yekelchyk, Serhy. ''Ukraine: Birth of a Modern Nation'' (Oxford University Press 2007) {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200707135517/https://www.questia.com/read/117724172/ukraine-birth-of-a-modern-nation |date=7 July 2020 }}
{{refend}}

==== World War II ====
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Boshyk |first=Yuri |year=1986 |title=Ukraine During World War II: History and Its Aftermath |url=https://archive.org/details/ukraineduringwor0000unse |url-access=registration |publisher=Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies |isbn=978-0-920862-37-7|ref=none}}
* Berkhoff, Karel C. ''Harvest of Despair: Life and Death in Ukraine Under Nazi Rule''. Harvard U. Press, 2004. 448 pp.
* {{Cite book |last=Cliff |first=Tony |title=Class Struggle and Women's Liberation |url=https://archive.org/details/classstrugglewom0000clif |url-access=registration |publisher=Bookmarks |year=1984 |isbn=978-0-906224-12-0|ref=none}}
* Gross, Jan T. ''Revolution from Abroad: The Soviet Conquest of Poland's Western Ukraine and Western Belorussia'' (1988).
* ]. ''Nazi Empire-Building and the Holocaust in Ukraine''. U. of North Carolina Press, 2005. 307 pp.
* Piotrowski Tadeusz, ''Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918–1947'', McFarland & Company, 1998, {{ISBN|0-7864-0371-3}}.
* Redlich, Shimon. ''Together and Apart in Brzezany: Poles, Jews, and Ukrainians, 1919–1945''. Indiana U. Press, 2002. 202 pp.
* Zabarko, Boris, ed. ''Holocaust in the Ukraine'', Mitchell Vallentine & Co, 2005. 394 pp.
{{refend}}

== External links ==
{{Sister project links|voy=Ukraine}}
* information from the ]
* from ]
*

; Government
*
*
*

; Economy
*
* {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220303165622/https://www.ganintegrity.com/portal/country-profiles/ukraine |date=3 March 2022 }} from the ]

; Demographics
* by the French ]

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Revision as of 14:37, 30 September 2024

Stupid.